French Man Claims Casino Caused His Gambling “Addiction”
In the first lawsuit of its kind ever brought in France, a man has demanded more than 4 million francs in gambling losses from a local casino that supposedly turned him into a “gambling addict.” Comparing his present condition to “being a drug addict” or “[having] cancer,” Jean-Philippe Bryk claims that a casino run by Partouche, France’s largest gaming company, had a duty to “watch out for problem gamblers” and prevent them from suffering gambling losses. Instead, Bryk claims, the casino “drugged” him, fueling his purported gambling addiction by providing free drinks and meals and encouraging him to continue gambling.
According to reports, Bryk went to the Partouche casino for the first time in 1995 and won 10,000 francs. After winning more than 100,000 francs in several subsequent visits, he allegedly became “addicted” to gambling and soon started to lose large sums of money. Bryk claims he eventually lost between 4 million and 5 million francs, squandering his mother’s inheritance and lying to friends, family and financial institutions to obtain funds for gambling.
In press interviews, Partouche manager Georges Sabah dismissed the lawsuit as frivolous, stating that Bryk “is an adult and of sound mind” and that “the client has the right to play and the casino has no right to demand if his account is healthy.” Sabah also noted that Partouche, in the absence of any regulatory requirement to do so, has provided leaflets and posters to patrons in an effort to help them identify the warning signs of problem gambling.
