Indiana judge rules Corbin businessman must pay 2004 gambling debt, even if he was drunk

An Indiana court disagrees with a Corbin businessman who claimed he shouldn’t have to pay an Indiana casino $75,000 in blackjack losses because he was too drunk know what he was doing the night managers offered him the money as a line of credit.

Orange County Indiana Special Judge Larry Blanton rule June 30 that Jim Vance, 66, must pay Caesars Indiana, a riverboat casino docked on the Ohio River in Harrison County, Ind., near Louisville, the money as well as eight percent in interest.
According to court records, Vance played blackjack at the casino on the night of Sept. 22-23, 2004 and signed "markers," essentially loans, totalling $75,000.

Ceasars filed suit against Vance Oct. 2007 in Harrison Circuit Court for failing to repay the loan, but he’s not alone. The company filed similar lawsuits against 17 other people, some from Kentucky. Judgments have been given in many of the cases, and some of the debts have been collected.

Vance, however, took the novel approach of claiming the casino tricked him into accepting the money by allowing him to consume too much alcohol first.

"They should have cut me off," he said in a 2008 interview with the News Journal. "What they are saying is they have no legal liability. They can give you all the booze you want. If you go into a bar or places like that, they have liability … I’m not the only one this has happened too."

In a countersuit, filed by attorney Larry Wilder, Vance claimed he was obviously drunk when several Ceasars’ employees "induced" him into accepting credit advances. He was alone during the night of gambling and said workers expressed concern about his ability to drive or even get to his car, but still offered him a loan. Vance said he’s lost about $500,000 at the casino altogether.

Blanton said in his ruling that "Indiana’s law does not support an individual’s allegation that they should not be required to repay gambling debts incurred by asserting intoxication as a defense."

The ruling came after a hearing in early March on the issue in Harrison Circuit Court. Included as evidence at the hearing was Vance’s business and gambling past. The ruling notes he is a "long-time gambler" who had his first gambling experience in 1974. He’s gambled in casinos both in the U.S. and abroad. It notes that on the night in question, he consumed at least seven whiskey drinks in a four-hour and 17 minute period in which he ran up the debt.

Vance won at least a partial victory in the case. Caesars was seeking triple damages ($225,000) on the debt. The judge denied that claim.

The ruling is appealable.

Vance is owner of Corbin Bingo Parlor as well as numerous other business ventures, including rental property, billboards and a property development company.