Saudi Heiress Gambling Addict Loses Court Battle

A wealthy gambler with a penchant for losing huge sums of money found no relief in a court of law upon arguing that the casino should have prevented her from continuing her downward spiral while playing punto banco.

The Ritz casino in London prevailed in a lawsuit involving Noora Abdullah Mahawish Al-Daher after the woman lost £2 million one evening in 2012 and refused to pay half that amount. Al-Daher, who is married to Omani foreign minister Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamood Al-Busaidi, was ordered by Judge Anthony Seys Llewellyn to pay the casino the remaining £1 million with interest, the Daily Mail reported.

The judge found Al-Daher’s claim that casino staff “took advantage of her gambling addiction” ludicrous, noting that just two months after the debacle in London, Al-Daher and her family dumped £3 million more gambling in Las Vegas. The Saudi heiress claims the Ritz was at fault for extending her £1.7 million credit limit tied to paying by cheque and encouraged her to continue.

“Mrs Al-Daher is a person of wealth unimaginable to the ordinary person and, I suspect, to many of moderate or substantial wealth,” the High Court judge said. “The enormous sums she gambled and the enormous losses she sustained were within her means.”