Michael Duke Thomson remembers leaving the high-limit blackjack room at the Aria Resort & Casino around midnight with a few thousand dollars in chips. He doesn’t remember anything else after that.
Thomson, according to a federal lawsuit deal detailed by The Independent, allegedly went on an epic The Hangover-style rager that he doesn’t remember at all—because he may not have actually done it.
According to a federal complaint, the next thing Thomson knew, he was waking up the next morning, handcuffed in a casino security holding area. He had been banned from the property and would eventually face felony charges tied to $75,000 in casino debt he insists he never knowingly accrued.
Thompson is a 64-year-old licensed attorney and a longtime Aria visitor. In his lawsuit, he claims that he was drugged sometime during the night of January 23, 2024, incapacitating him for hours.
During that blackout window, he allegedly took out eight casino credit markers that totaled around $75,000, markers that he says he has no memory of requesting or signing. He claims the signatures barely resemble his own.
Man Claims He Racked Up $75,000 in Debt During a Wild Night at a Vegas Casino
The lawsuit accuses Aria and its parent company, MGM Resorts International, of failing to intervene despite what Thomson says would have been an obvious impairment. Instead of seeking medical help or stopping him from gambling, the casino allegedly let him do it by extending him credit.
It later detained him when security found him asleep in a private lounge. He was ejected from the property without being told he owed money.
Months later, when the casino attempted to collect on the markers, Thomson asked his bank to delay payment until he could figure out what was going on. He never could figure it out. The answers never came.
The markers were eventually referred to the Clark County District Attorney’s Bad Check Unit, which led to federal charges for fraud and theft. Thompson was promptly arrested. He posted bail and paid the full amount to make the case go away. The charges were dismissed in October.
Thompson is now arguing that the markers are invalid because he couldn’t consent. Or because the signatures were forged and not properly verified. He’s filing a lawsuit that covers the real and imagined causes for the sudden incurrence of debt, but which one is which is up for debate.
Either way, he thinks Aria is responsible for letting it happen, arguing that the casino was unjustly enriched and acted maliciously by pursuing criminal charges while withholding information.
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