Star to pay punter who won after mate ‘pushed button’
A Sydney punter with limited arm function has won more than $300,000 from the casino giant after it initially refused to pay out his jackpot.
Star Entertainment has been forced to pay $319,000 in winnings to a disabled man after the company’s Sydney casino initially refused to hand over the money on the basis that he wasn’t the one who had “pushed the button” of the gaming machine.
David Joe, who has motor neurone disease, was at the casino in October 2019 and had asked his friend, Louis Lie, to help him operate the machine because he had limited arm function.
Mr Joe gave Mr Lie $2000 to gamble on his behalf, as well as his Platinum Vintage Membership Card.
The pair spent several hours gambling, with Mr Lie handling Mr Joe’s money and following his direction, before the pair won almost $285,000 on the Year of the Tiger slot machine.
However, Star refused to pay out Mr Joe – because Mr Lie had voluntarily excluded himself from the casino in 2016. Star argued that it was Mr Lie, not Mr Joe, who had made the wager, and the casino was entitled to refuse to pay him.
But NSW District Court judge Robert Montgomery dismissed the casino's arguments, noting that Mr Lie had been privately gaming at the venue for at least six months prior, and it was reasonable that the pair had assumed the exclusion order had expired.
Judge Montgomery also declared the bet was between Mr Joe and the The Star, noting that Mr Joe did not have the “dexterity and stamina of arm and hand movement required for extensive, pleasurable operation of the gaming machines over several hours”, and was reliant on Mr Lie’s physical assistance.
“I find that the jackpot was won in the performance of the contract of wager between the plaintiff and the defendant,” Judge Montgomery said.
“I reject the defendant case that the contract of wager was between the defendant and Mr Lie.
“In my opinion … the person prohibited from making any wager in a casino … is the person making an economic stake risked against the future uncertain event of the play.”
The Star was ordered to pay a total of $319,734 – which includes interest – and cover Mr Joe’s costs.
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