After losing millions, tycoon sues UK casino for not stopping his marathon gambling

A non-executive director of energy and infrastructure company Yinson is suing one of Britain’s largest casinos for £3.9 million (RM21.9 million), accusing it of causing him to lose in a 72-hour card game.

The Daily Mail reports that the suit by Lim Han Joeh, whose fellow board members in Yinson include Securities Commission director Gooi Hoe Soon and Sharifah Munira Syed Zaid, the daughter of the current SC chairman, pertains to credit of close to £4 million provided to him by the Mayfair-owned Aspinalls Casino during the 72-hour session of a card game in 2015.

Lim, who lost the game, failed to return the amount, and four years later the casino sued him.

But in his suit, Lim claimed that the casino had breached the UK’s Gambling Act 2005, which states that “vulnerable people should be protected from being harmed or exploited by gambling”.

“Rather than forcing the claimant to stop and rest, Aspinalls increased his credit to £2 million,” the Mail quoted from a court filing by Lim.

“The claimant had a losing streak and was visibly desperate and panicked,” it said, adding that the casino “took advantage of the claimant’s distressed attempts to claw back the losses by allowing further funds and more time to gamble”.