Michael Duke Thomson Sues Aria Casino After Waking Up in Handcuffs With $75,000 Worth of Debt

High-roller gambler Michael Duke Thomson is suing the Aria Casino in Las Vegas after a session in the casino led to him waking up in handcuffs, in $75,000 worth of debt, and with no memory of what happened.

The 64-year-old lawyer says his last memory on January 23, 2024, was leaving the casino’s high-limit blackjack room with “a few thousand dollars” in chips.

The next thing he remembers is waking up the following morning, handcuffed in a casino security holding pen, with staff insisting he owed about $75,000 in gambling markers to the casino.

The lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court in Nevada seeks to recover the money that he eventually paid to the casino, as well as damages for a series of alleged failures by the casino staff.

Was Thomson Drugged?

Thomson alleges that he was “surreptitiously drugged,” which left him incapacitated and unable to understand or consent to his actions, including signing credit instruments. The casino has produced signed markers showing he agreed to take out credit, but he argues they only loosely resemble his signature.

In his lawsuit, he also claims that the casino staff should have recognized he was not in control of his actions and prevented him from continuing to gamble.

Thomson initially refused to pay his debts, but the casino filed criminal charges, leading to his arrest last year. He eventually agreed to pay the money, but is now filing a civil lawsuit against the casino and parent group MGM Resorts International.

The claim also alleges that the casino maliciously prosecuted him. It states that Aria had no reasonable basis to believe that he did not have sufficient funds to pay back the money or had committed theft.

The casino was recently the subject of an $800 million investment, and Thomson is reportedly a longtime patron of the venue, with no prior trouble.

Blackjack Followed By Blackout

The claim states that Thomson remembers playing blackjack in the high-limit room at the casino. He also recalls taking out $10,000 in credit, which he repaid that night.

He then finished his gambling session and said he remembers heading toward his room at around midnight. Casino staff, however, say he was found sleeping in the Sky Suites lounge at 11 a.m. the next morning. When he was woken up by security guards, he lashed out, which led to security detaining him.

Security then threw him off the property and told him not to return, or he would face arrest, according to the complaint. It states that no one mentioned any outstanding markers to Thomson at the time.

The next day, he reached out to his VIP host at the Aria to “inquire about what she might know” regarding his experience. She informed him that he had outstanding markers, but there “was a discrepancy” between the money he borrowed and his wins and losses.

It was not until three months later that he learned he owed the casino $75,000. The casino submitted the markers to his bank for payment, but he refused to pay.

The casino did not respond to further requests for details about what happened on the night in question. He claims that he must have been drugged and that, in his incapacitated state, either he signed the markers or someone else signed them on his behalf.

The Aria and MGM have not yet filed a response to his allegations. The case could presumably be clarified with CCTV footage from the casino.

MGM’s Vegas properties have struggled recently, with CEO Bill Hornbuckle admitting the company has made mistakes with its customer service. Hornbuckle stated, “We lost control of the narrative over the summer… You can’t have a $29 room and a $12 coffee. We’ve gone through the organization and price-corrected.”