Man lost $127M at casinos owned by Cisco customer, Harrah's Entertainment

To its good karma and clear conscience, the Las Vegas Wynn Casino barred the man for compulsive drinking and gambling.

Off topic warning: The following post is not really about Cisco, but it did get me wondering about compulsive gambling and technology’s role in it.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that current Bay Area resident - Terrance Watanabe, lost a staggering $127 million during a single year at the Las Vegas casinos owned by a very important Cisco customer - Harrah's Entertainment (read the NetworkWorld story about Cisco signing a 10-year deal with Harrah’s).

As a former 5-year resident of Las Vegas, I'm amazed at the size of Watanabe's gambling losses, especially since they occurred during a single year.

According to the Journal, Watanabe lost as much as $5 million during a single 24-hour gambling binge. He was allowed to play three blackjack hands simultaneously with a $50,000 limit for each hand. At one point, Harrah's raised his credit to $17 million.

Interestingly, Watanabe says in court documents that he was barred from the Las Vegas Wynn Casino because of compulsive drinking and gambling. Was that because of the fact that Steve Wynn's own father was financially ruined by compulsive gambling? Or as a long-time Vegas entrepreneur who owes his success to Parry Thomas, does Wynn understand the "art of gaming" better than his corporate counterparts at Harrah's?

Perhaps Cisco technology could be deployed to battle compulsive gambling:

What's your take, how do you think Cisco technology could be deployed to battle compulsive gambling?

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• Cisco
• LANs / WANs
• Bay Area resident - Terrance Watanabe
• I'm amazed at the size of Watanabe's gambling losses
• Las Vegas casinos owned by a very important Cisco customer - Harrah's Entertainment
• Perhaps Cisco technology could be deployed to battle compulsive gambling