This year has been filled with unusual lawsuits happening in the United States, with both gamblers and dealers suing casinos for all sorts of unusual reasons. Now that 2009 is coming to a close, one more blackjack related lawsuit has come to the media’s attention, and it’s the biggest one so far.

During a very bad run back in 2007, Terrance Watanabe lost $127,000,000 in Las Vegas. It is one of the largest losing streaks in history. He owes the money to two different casinos – Caesars Palace and the Rio. Watanabe is now facing criminal charges from the casinos for lack of payment, but in what is no longer a very surprising move, he is countersuing the caissons, arguing that they knowingly let him gamble when he was drunk.

Watanabe was a spectacle that year, and as word spread about his gambling habits, people would just come to watch. His main vices were roulette and $25 multiline slot machines, which are games with horrible odds. He also played a lot of blackjack, but would play three hands at a time, each maxed out at a $50,000 limit. Watanabe’s worst streak was a single 24-hour stretch during which he lost $5 million.

The casinos loved the man. He was given his own bartender and his own personal handlers. He gave out stacks of $100 bills as tips. But Watanabe claims that the casinos let him gamble while he was drunk and out of control, which is a violation of gaming rules. A spokesperson of Harrah’s, the parent company of the casinos named in the suit, dismissed the claim. “We will not get into a public debate with a criminal defendant who is trying to avoid imprisonment,” said a spokesperson for the company.

One of the best ways to avoid running the risk of losing so much money is to play blackjack online. This might seem like a bad idea at first – after all, there are no dealers or floor bosses to stop players who have been drinking. But on the internet, table limits are quite a lot lower, and restrictions placed on banking make it very difficult to process such large amounts of money.

Players concerned about losing money in walk-in casinos should definitely consider online blackjack, particularly at places like Jackpot City Casino where players can choose to reduce blackjack table limits to just $1. Jackpot City Casino offers a free $25 welcome bonus which can be followed by a 100% up to $100 first deposit bonus. Sign up today, and play blackjack online without fear of losing your family fortune!