Newspaper: New Zealand gambler loses $44,000 poker jackpot after banning himself from casino

Newspaper: NZ gambler trumped by own casino ban

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — A man who won 60,000 New Zealand dollars ($44,000) playing poker at an Auckland casino was refused the jackpot because he had banned himself from the premises for gambling too much, a newspaper reported on Friday.

Sothea Sinn, 28, won the prize playing Caribbean stud poker at Auckland’s Skycity Casino on Wednesday but casino staff refused to pay, saying he was banned at his own request,The Dominion-Post newspaper reported.

“I was absolutely gutted,” Sinn told the newspaper.

Sinn said that in 2004 he demanded the casino ban him and his girlfriend because he was gambling too much. He said he thought the ban had expired, but casino staff said he had agreed to undergo counseling before readmission and had not done so.

Sinn said he would take his case to New Zealand gambling authorities.