Casinos not obliged to pay punters’ winnings

Punters winning big in casinos have no protection in law if operators fail to pay out, according to a judge who dismissed one man’s claim to thousands of euro based on laws dating back to 1956.

The case before Judge Francis Comerford in the Circuit Civil Court involved a man who won more than €15,000 over two nights at the D1 Casino in Dublin, but who alleged he had received only some of the winnings.

Sayed Mirwais, a married father of two with an address at St Mary’s Place, Phibsborough in Dublin, told the court he won the money after placing numerous bets on an automated roulette machine.