A high-roller from Montreal is being actively sought by the MGM Grand casino in Las Vegas . A regular at the establishment, the suspect allegedly incurred a $1.8 million gambling debt two years ago, which he is apparently refusing to pay.
The Las Vegas casino intends to recover the loan amount granted to this professional poker player by any means necessary.
A debt of $1 million plus interest
On March 2, 2017, Canadian professional poker player Ouri Ohayon entered the gaming room of the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas. He played a series of games, but luck wasn’t exactly on his side. After losing his initial bankroll, he received five successive payments from the casino, totaling $1 million .
After also depleting this reserve, Ohayon left the casino… and never returned. The Canadian player chose not to honor the debt he had contracted with the establishment. In order to recover its funds, the MGM Grand Hotel filed a complaint and obtained a verdict in its favor in December 2017 .
The Clark County Judicial District Court ordered the Montreal player to pay the casino $1.8 million , including interest, damages, and attorneys’ fees. It should be noted that the defendant chose not to appear at the hearing. He was not represented by any defense attorney.
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Involved in several cases
Ouri Ohayon, who is well-known in the poker world, is also being sought by several of his other creditors. The player is reportedly in debt to Amex Bank of America, the Bank of Montreal, the Bank of Nova Scotia, and the Royal Bank.
These four banking institutions have in fact launched proceedings against the player for debts totaling $635,000 . In order to regain possession of its funds, the Royal Bank had also succeeded, after numerous negotiations, in seizing one of its debtor’s vehicles: a Cadillac Escalade worth $118,000. Ohayon had also recently been involved in a Molotov cocktail attack between competing restaurants, one of which belonged to the player.
Markers, a common practice in Vegas
Some of you may be wondering how a player can get such a large amount of credit from a casino to play. This is a fairly common practice in Las Vegas. All of the city’s major casino resorts offer what are called « markers » to their regular high rollers.
These markers take the form of checks made out to the casino, but the latter agrees not to cash them for a predetermined period of time. This allows high rollers to satisfy their gambling thirst and pay « deferred. » As long as the player pays their debt on time, both parties are satisfied.
Unfortunately, not all poker players are paragons of virtue or truly solvent. In cases like Ohayon’s, the unscrupulous player faces prosecution for fraud.
To date, the player most indebted to casinos due to this practice is another Canadian: Semion Kronenfeld. In 2009, he incurred a $13 million debt in two Las Vegas casinos.
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