The phone rang in the casino manager's office at the MGM. After a minute the answer came, "Good, cut the boys a check for twenty percent and tell them I said thanks". With that a smile came over his face as he realized he just collected 80% of that $180,000 ($144,000) which just a short time ago might have gone uncollectable, unless you wanted to pay a guy named Vito 60% and all the broads and booze he could consume in your penthouse for a weekend.

But Vito's gone into the sausage stuffing business since the new collectors came to town. And who are these boys? The D.A. No not the "Diego Animals" the District Attorney. Yes, you heard me right, the cops, the fuzz, the Man, Johnny Law. On Jan 31, Manuel Nacrur was returned to Las Vegas via Miami, via Chile, where he was hold up since owing the MGM Grand $45,000 for gambling debts incurred in Sept'97. Peter Newgard who owed the Las Vegas Hilton a marker for $36,000 was hold up in London where he was caught and returned to Las Vegas in handcuffs. The Nacrur and Newgard arrest warrants originated with the Clark County District Attorney's Bad Check Unit, which is fast becoming the best gambling debt collector since the boys called the Kansas City or Chicago area codes for unemployed knee cap displacers (usually ex-football linemen or ex-meat packers from the south side of Chicago)

By applying a state law that defines an unpaid casino marker as a bad check, the D.A.'s office acts as the casinos' collection agency and is using weapons those old knee-breakers could only dream about (without going to jail) a real badge, a legal gun and the weight of the law. You don't need the mob when you can create your own debtors' prison and have the D.A.'s office as your "warden" and cops from here to Miami as your soldiers. The D.A.'s Bad Check Unit have prosecuted more than 5,000 cases involving unpaid markers. For years talk was always that if worse came to worse, you could always avoid paying your marker and just stay away from that casino (except now you may have to stay out of 4 or 5 casinos since many casinos own multiple properties and share information. But nowdays, many casinos share marker information due to the advent of the computer age and the mass of new players).

Now enter a very rich banker from Tokyo. This man gambles millions every visit and with 4 of the top casinos in town with hired concierges just to take care of this man's every whim ( a corprate plane flys him to a private airstrip in Pahrump for a visit to the Ranch, paid in full by the casino, yes that's right, the casinos are now pimps (always were) and it's all legal since the brothels are legal and paid through American Express and at 22% interest, everyone is making money on "pussy" including Wall Street)). A 24hr valet, a $10,000 a night "room" with everything from special oils imported for his bath, a private swimming pool on the roof terrace, to fresh rose peddles sprinkled all over the floor and his bed so he can "walk and sleep on roses" (I'm not kidding). One visit to the Rio netted them $2.75 million on one bad weekend at the Baccarat tables. The next visit, the Las Vegas Hilton offered him their million dollar luxury suite, a private jet from Tokyo airport (yes, the passenger cabin floor was covered with rose peddles), a pair of $65,000 diamond earrings to bring his wife to make up for being gone for the weekend. This time the Asian banker (who's money was this anyways?) dropped just over $1.25 million at baccarat and craps. Of this amount, 25% was taken off the top just as a "nice gesture" (most of the casinos do this) and a marker was outstanding for just over a half-million when he returned home, after numerous phone calls and eventually a visit from a Hilton executive trying to collect, the Hilton was stuffed.

At the same time, another major casino was shmoozing this guy trying to convince him that if he stayed at their hotel, the Hilton would never get their hands on him and they would protect him from their grasp. When asked later what their thinking was, it was said that even if he lost a million and stuck them for half a million, that would mean they still made $500,000. And so he returned to Vegas with the idea he could just snub the Hilton debt, but to his chagrin, the D.A.'s office was waiting for him when he stepped off the airplane and within 24 hours, the $500,000 debt was paid in full. (don't feel bad for him, he still had a million and change left in his pocket to gamble with) and where did he gamble? You guessed it, the Las Vegas Hilton. He dropped another $200,000 before they flew him home covered in rose peddles.

According to the D.A.'s office "there's no question in my mind, a marker is a check and an unpaid check is a collectable debt and against the law if it's not paid." said Deputy district Attorney Dan Ahlstrom quoting the statute. But whether using the D.A.'s office to strong-arm slow-paying customers, some of whom are prosecuted by one casino while being courted by another casino, withstands a vigorous test in federal court, is another matter. Although most people, after a call from the Las Vegas District Attorney's office with a strong worded "suggestion" to pay their debt or risk extradition and possible jail sentences, usually pay up within minutes. It rarely takes a second call.

There is a lawsuit in federal court alleging the D.A.'s office is violating the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act by using the threat of criminal prosecution as a strong-arm tactic to collect a debt in a civil matter, but the D.A.'s office outlook is firm. Historically, gambling debts were uncollectable except by means of lengthly litigation or "persuasion". But since, Nevada's bad-check statute was amended to include casino credit and debts, but usually no one wants to invite the obvious public-relations nightmare. But nowdays threatening jail rather than threatening broken knees seems to work better and saves the casinos time and a fortune in attorney fees. The Bad-Check Unit writes two "strongly" worded letters, then applies for the warrant, which finds its way into the NCIC (National Crime Info Computer) where a customs agent matches a player's name to a visa, passenger manifest, and that's how Nacrur and Newgard were found. Now for the bottom line, why would and how can this Bad Check Unit operate?

They don't do this for the good will of the community. The charge for "expenses" and "operational costs" for the Unit can run high, but at 10-25% of the collected debt, it's still a bargain. Yes, on the $500,000 debt, the Unit collected $50,000 and what did they have to do? They wrote two letters and made a long distance phone call. Not a bad line of work if you can get voted in.

Here's a little tidbit from my "Night Off":

I went to the Gold Coast to confirm a story. A man (only the bosses and surveillance and of course, the IRS, know who this guy was, according to the dealer, he was just some middle age white guy, he wouldn't give any of the dealers any information and had the bosses remind the dealers to shut up and deal, but as soon as he started winning big, with a $600 buy in on the Gold Coast's Mini-Baccarat table ($2,000 limit) he had to show his identification when he had $8,000 and his next $2,000 bet would take him to $10,000 where the 6A (IRS) regulation kicks in.

After a phonecall to Michael Gaughn, the owner of the Gold Coast, Barbary Coast (his father, Jackie Gaughn, who own the Union Plaza and El Cortez, (these are all toilets) the limit was raised to $5,000. After 22 hours of non-stop play, the guy left with $401,000 of Michael's money. The most incredible thing was that most of the time he was playing on a full table, yet in all that time, with all the other players and with all those chips in front of him, no one played with him, you'd think someone would have jumped on this guys star and ride it with him, but no one figured his luck would last, INCREDIBLY STUPID. This is exactly how the house takes an extra percentage in games like roulette, if black hits twice, everyone will put their money on red, if black hits again, they'll bet the red, and over and over, when they finally get tired of loosing and bet the black, it'll inevitably hit red, or it'll be too little too late. But I can guarantee one thing, when he blows through the 400 large, he'll be back, except, like the first time, if he buys in $600 and looses, he'll probably walk.

The Great White Whale, Australian businessman Kerry Packer was in Vegas for the De LaHoya fight. Packer beat Steve Wynn out of $8 million between the Mirage and Bellagio. He mainly played baccarat for up to $150,000 a hand and while they shuffled, hit the blackjack tables for $25,000 a hand (3 spots) and tipped the dealers $600,000 and since his tips to the dealers come in bets for the dealers, that means $300,000 of that came out of the rack, Steve Wynn's rack. OUCH!! (now there goes a Van Gogh) But if you think this is winning, this is compulsive playing, here are Kerry's numbers over the week. Packer over his last week's play, between London and Vegas lost $12 million pounds ($18 million dollars) in London. At the Bellagio's opening last winter, Kerry was up $7 million, went to bed, and woke up to loose $12 million, a gift of $5 million for Wynn's opening night. From there, on the way to the airport he stopped in the Rio and lost another $4 million. And he too shall return.