It was reported this week that a Las Vegas casino had filed a civil suit to recover a $400,000 gambling debt from Charles Barkley. The casino alleged in a civil complaint filed Wednesday in a Nevada state court that Barkley failed to repay four $100,000 casino loans, received last October.
"To date, and despite repeated demands, Barkley has refused to repay the $400,000," the complaint said. To make matters more pressing for Charles, Clark County District Attorney David Roger, said prosecutors would file a criminal complaint if he did not pay the debt cited by the Wynn Las Vegas resort.
In acknowledging the debt Charles is reported to have said "All they had to do is call and say, 'Hey, you owe us this money." Is it possible that it slipped Mr. Barkley's mind that he owed 400 large?
I guess the silver lining in this is that Vegas must be cleaned up a little. In the old days if you owed $400,000 they didn't file a civil suit, they were more likely to do some rather uncivil thing to you like break your legs or cut off a body part.
The $400,000 isn't the punchline in the story however, Mr. Barkley goes on to acknowledge that he has lost over 10 million dollars in his gambling career! On the subject, in an ESPN story Charles imparts this bit of nonsense, "Do I have a gambling problem? Yeah, I do have a gambling problem but I don't consider it a problem because I can afford to gamble. It's just a stupid habit that I've got to get under control."
This is going to turn out badly for Charles. It is one of those classic examples of the Peter Principle, where an individual has elevated themselves to their own level of incompetence. His own book gives you an indication of how this is all going to end, I May Be Wrong but I Doubt It explains in more detail, that left to his own devices, Charles might finish his life as a broke charity case.
In 1993, Charles was criticized for saying "sports figures should not be considered role models" apparently he is trying to make sure he is right.
