In a win for the business community, a federal appeals court on Monday upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by a self-described problem gambler who sued several casinos and online gaming operators for enticing him to gamble with cash bonuses and other perks.
Sam. A. Antar, who has addresses in Long Branch and New York City, had accused BetMGM, MGM Resorts International, B Online Casino, the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa and others of negligence and Consumer Fraud Act (CFA) violations for offering him cash bonuses, deposit matches, and other incentives when he had a known gambling addiction.
On Monday, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the 2024 dismissal of the case by New Jersey District Court Judge Madeline Cox Arleo.
“Recognizing that New Jersey does not impose a duty of care on casinos over problem gamblers, statutorily or through caselaw, the District Court properly dismissed Antar’s negligence claim,” the appellate court said.
Antar claimed he gambled more than $24 million and placed more than 100,000 online bets between June 2019 and January 2020, the court said. However, his lawsuit did not quantify his financial losses, an omission that the appellate court noted, saying an “ascertainable loss” must be proven for a violation of the Consumer Fraud Act to have occurred.
“Antar does not explain how the court would be able to differentiate the losses he suffered as a result of the defendants’ alleged conduct versus those losses he suffered as a natural result of playing a game where the odds are stacked against the player,” the court said.
Consumer Fraud Act violations must also show that a business provided fraudulent or misleading information, and here too the plaintiff’s case falls short, the appellate court said.
“Antar was fully aware that the text messages from his VIP hosts offering bonuses, credits, and deposit matches were exactly as the hosts represented – enticements to continue to gamble,” the appellate court said. “Following New Jersey Supreme Court precedent, Antar fails to plead that the defendants engaged in unconscionable business conduct under the CFA.”
NJBIA and other organizations, represented by McCarter & English attorney David Kott, had filed an amicus brief in support of the businesses in the case.
Antar, who has twice been sentenced on criminal charges related to fraudulent investment schemes, admitted in 2023 to committing federal securities fraud in a case brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and agreed at that time to pay $655,754 in restitution.
