Marker dispute grounds gambler

When Wisconsin businessman Christian Peterson stepped into Harrah's Entertainment's private jet, he thought he was a winner.

The self-confessed gambling addict, who routinely plays blackjack at $25,000 a hand, spent several days in April gambling at Caesars Palace and says he won $1.5 million.

Harrah's Entertainment, which owns Caesars Palace, offered to fly him back to Wisconsin on its private jet, and he took them up on it. He says the company and other gaming establishments often fly him to Las Vegas, so he didn't even consider it a big deal.

But it turned into a big deal. About 45 minutes into his flight, the pilot turned the plane around and returned to Las Vegas, Peterson said.

Once on the ground, he claims a handful of Harrah's Entertainment employees surrounded him and intimidated him into signing a marker for $3.5 million.

Peterson is now suing Harrah's Entertainment in District Court. His lawsuit, filed on June 5, accuses the company of false imprisonment and inflicting emotional distress, among other charges.

Peterson, 39, owns a light manufacturing company, is a real estate developer and owns several restaurants. He says he comes to Las Vegas frequently to gamble but is now scared to return.

"I'm afraid they're going to arrest me. I don't even know what those people are going to do," he said by telephone.

Chris Rasmussen, Peterson's local attorney, said his fears might sound irrational to people living in Las Vegas. But Peterson is from the Midwest, where Las Vegas continues to have a reputation as a dangerous city.

"People come here and think everyone is in the mob," he said.

Harrah's Entertainment spokesman Gary Thompson declined to comment on the lawsuit, saying the company has a long-standing policy to not comment on pending litigation.

He said Harrah's Entertainment has private jets and flies customers to and from their properties.

Peterson's story starts on April 20, when he says Harrah's Entertainment flew him, a friend and his corporate attorney to Las Vegas from Wisconsin on its private jet. He said Harrah's Entertainment has flown him to Las Vegas, free of charge, at least a dozen times because he's a big-time gambler.

"I've never paid for a bill in Las Vegas in five years."

He claims to have won $1.5 million while he was drunk at Caesars Palace on April 21 and kept the money at the casino, where he had a line of credit. When he got up to leave the table, a Caesars Palace employee told him he owed the casino $3.5 million and he needed to sign a marker.

Casinos typically give customers markers to sign after they give out chips. Legal experts say markers are viewed differently by players and casinos.

Players view them as a written record of a loan, and casinos see them as checks, according to gambling law authority I. Nelson Rose.

Peterson contends he had a line of credit and wasn't doled out $3.5 million.

He disputed the marker with the employee, saying the casino had it wrong. He then went to his room without signing the marker and slept for several hours before a limo, provided by Harrah's Entertainment, drove him to the company's plane.

He says the plane was in the air for almost an hour when a flight attendant told him there were problems with the plane's hydraulic system and they needed to turn around and land in Las Vegas.

When the plane landed, Peterson said, he expected to get on another jet and leave. Instead, several Harrah's Entertainment employees approached him and told him he needed to sign the $3.5 million marker, according to the lawsuit.

Peterson said they refused to fly him home unless he did so.

Although they told him he could leave, Peterson said he felt intimidated into staying.

"I thought we were going to get into a physical confrontation, so I backed down. I was just very nervous. I'm not the kind of person who gets intimidated, but I was very, very scared."

Peterson said he was in the hangar for about 40 minutes and, even though he considered taking a commercial plane home, he stayed out of fear. Finally, he signed the marker and then boarded the same jet and was flown home.

Peterson said the experience sobered him up. He quit drinking and is in counseling. And he's sworn off Las Vegas.

"I don't believe I will ever gamble again," he said.

Contact reporter David Kihara at dkihara @reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039.