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The Man Who Lost _204 Million On A Trip To Vegas · The Mind of a Man

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  Speaker 1: In 2007, 20% of Caesars Palace Casino revenue came from
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  Speaker 1: one single person, Terence Watanabe. Born 1957 in Omaha, Nebraska,
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  Speaker 1: Terence began life as the son of Harry Watanabe, who
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  Speaker 1: founded one of the most successful carnival suppliers in American
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  Speaker 1: history called the Oriental Trading Company. At the age of 15,
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  Speaker 1: Terrence began working for his father, and by the age
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  Speaker 1: of 20, Terrence had been given the role of CEO,
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  Speaker 1: after which he'd add an incredible amount to the business.
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  Speaker 1: By shifting the focus toward party products, Terrence was able
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  Speaker 1: to grow the business from 17 local stores to a
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  Speaker 1: company generating $ 25 million per month The only problem was
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  Speaker 1: Terrence had spent most of his life doing so and
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  Speaker 1: had therefore experienced almost nothing outside of work. The job
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  Speaker 1: was all-consuming, say former associates. He travelled for long stretches
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  Speaker 1: of time examining merchandise in Asia. He never married. His
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  Speaker 1: sister and others who know him say they don't believe
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  Speaker 1: he ever had a significant romantic relationship. This was his life,
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  Speaker 1: that company. It engulfed him. Having burnt out by the
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  Speaker 1: age of 43, Terrence put his share of the company
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  Speaker 1: up for sale, eventually selling for an undisclosed amount in
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  Speaker 1: October 2000, after which the goal was to have a
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  Speaker 1: charitable and fun retirement.
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  Speaker 2: Mr.
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  Speaker 1: Watanabe said his plan was to throw himself into his
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  Speaker 1: philanthropic work and have more fun. If it's not fun,
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  Speaker 1: it's not worth doing, Mr. Watanabe told his hometown newspaper,
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  Speaker 1: the Omaha World Herald in 2000. He then created the
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  Speaker 1: Terry K. Watanabe Charitable Trust, before donating millions to AIDS
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  Speaker 1: and cancer research, as well as various political causes. However,
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  Speaker 1: having worked all day every day for over 20 years
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  Speaker 1: in a complex business, Terrence found little satisfaction in this
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  Speaker 1: new line of work. Donations from his foundation grew, but
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  Speaker 1: he soon became restless. Several business ideas, including opening a restaurant,
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  Speaker 1: went nowhere. He didn't know what to do with his time,
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  Speaker 1: says his sister, and as the old saying goes, an
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  Speaker 1: idle mind is the devil's playground. With nothing else to do,
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  Speaker 1: Terry began a new hobby of spending large amounts of cash,
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  Speaker 1: purchasing one of Omaha's largest and most notable homes, which
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  Speaker 1: featured nine bedrooms, 18 bathrooms, a gourmet kitchen, a custom
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  Speaker 1: wine cellar, and a three-story elevator, but it was rather
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  Speaker 1: a venue near this mansion that became his biggest financial danger.
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  Speaker 1: Terry began to travel across the border from Omaha to
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  Speaker 1: Council Bluffs, Iowa, so he could gamble at the Caesars
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  Speaker 1: Horseshoe Casino, which is self-described on its website as a
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  Speaker 1: true gambler's paradise, featuring an expansive round-the-clock casino floor, an
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  Speaker 1: 18-table poker room, a full-service Caesars sportsbook, and one-of-a-kind gaming area.
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  Speaker 1: Terrence became, quote, one of the casino's top customers and
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  Speaker 1: began devoting himself to gambling full-time as his primary income
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  Speaker 1: and livelihood source. However, with his level of disposable income,
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  Speaker 1: hosts at the Iowa casinos encouraged Mr. Watanabe to play
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  Speaker 1: at the Rio and other Haras-owned casinos in Las Vegas.
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  Speaker 1: Having struggled to launch any new businesses, Terrence began a
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  Speaker 1: frequent Las Vegas beginning in 2005, where his existing gambling
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  Speaker 1: habit was intensified and joined with a drinking habit, satisfied
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  Speaker 1: only by a luxury vodka brand called Jewel of Russia,
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  Speaker 1: which retailed at over $ 200 per bottle. In that very
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  Speaker 1: same year, billionaire Steve Wynn opened the luxury Wynn Las Vegas,
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  Speaker 1: and by 2006, one year later, Terrence had spent so
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  Speaker 1: much money at the venue that the two arranged to meet. Remarkably,
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  Speaker 1: Steve concluded that Terrence was a quote, compulsive gambler and alcoholic,
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  Speaker 1: leading Steve to ban Terry from the casino. However, given
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  Speaker 1: this was no fix for Terry's addiction, this simply became
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  Speaker 1: an opportunity for other venues in the area. Terry decided
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  Speaker 1: to take his money over to Caesars Palace, where a
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  Speaker 1: marketing executive promised to give him substantially more advantageous arrangements
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  Speaker 1: than the win, with respect to player comps, rebates and
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  Speaker 1: other incentives, after which the casino created specifically designed incentives
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  Speaker 1: to keep Terry gambling at their venue. He was given
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  Speaker 1: tickets to the Rolling Stones, $ 12, 500 a month for airfare
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  Speaker 1: and $ 500, 000 in credit at the gift stores. Haraz also
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  Speaker 1: offered 15% cash back on table losses greater than $ 500, 000,
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  Speaker 1: special high-limit games and other incentives.
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  Speaker 2: Mr.
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  Speaker 1: Watanabe resided for free in a three-bedroom suite at Caesars,
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  Speaker 1: had access to his favorite bartender, and was constantly surrounded
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  Speaker 1: by attendants to serve his every need, such as a
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  Speaker 1: seven-course meal from the casino's Bradley Ogden restaurant delivered to
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  Speaker 1: him while he was gambling, with these attendants later telling
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  Speaker 1: legendary stories about his behavior while gambling. Al DeLeon and
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  Speaker 1: Christian Kunder, two of Mr. Watanabe's personal handlers at Caesars,
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  Speaker 1: say he had thousands of Tiffany gift boxes filled with
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  Speaker 1: $ 50 gift cards or $ 100 gift coins that he would
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  Speaker 1: hand out to bartenders, nightclub operators, security guards and others.
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  Speaker 1: They say he once told a security guard to go
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  Speaker 1: to a supermarket and buy every cut of steak and
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  Speaker 1: then proceeded to hand them out to employees. Caesars Palace
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  Speaker 1: high rollers of this magnitude are often given exclusive loyalty
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  Speaker 1: program status called Seven Star, where members are wowed by
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  Speaker 1: all the fantastic benefits afforded to them, with additional rewards
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  Speaker 1: and all-round bigger and better perks, yet the casino then
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  Speaker 1: literally created a new tier above this called Chairman, of
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  Speaker 1: which only Terrence Watanabe had the status of joining. Having
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  Speaker 1: been handed what you might call the ultimate life, Terry
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  Speaker 1: decided to stay in Vegas, yet with no intervention and
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  Speaker 1: nothing else to do, the severity of his habit began
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  Speaker 1: to get out of control. Several employees say Mr. Watanabe
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  Speaker 1: would stay at the tables for up to 24 hours,
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  Speaker 1: sometimes losing as much as $ 5 million in a single binge.
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  Speaker 1: He was allowed to play three blackjack hands simultaneously, with
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  Speaker 1: a $ 50, 000 limit for each hand, and if he won, Mr.
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  Speaker 1: Watanabe says he regularly handed out to Cesar's employees bundles
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  Speaker 1: of $ 100 bills that could total as much as $ 20, 000.
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  Speaker 1: In the meantime, Terry was visited by a former casino
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  Speaker 1: host from his hometown, who explained that Terry appeared disoriented
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  Speaker 1: and couldn't remember the conversations they'd had in the past.
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  Speaker 1: He'd add that Terry was often seen stumbling around the
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  Speaker 1: casino or falling asleep at tables placed right beside loud
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  Speaker 1: nightclub music, yet the most notable observation regarded the type
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  Speaker 1: of machines that Terry liked to play. According to one
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  Speaker 1: of his former assistants, Terrence rejected any skill-based casino game
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  Speaker 1: like poker, and instead gravitated toward games with low odds,
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  Speaker 1: including roulette and slots. He was considered a house player
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  Speaker 1: because slots and roulette are house games. They have terrible
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  Speaker 1: odds for the player. And the way he played blackjack,
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  Speaker 1: he made it a house game. He made such bad
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  Speaker 1: decisions on the blackjack table, but it was only when
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  Speaker 1: his brother and sister came to visit for Thanksgiving 2007
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  Speaker 1: that he'd talk about just how much these bad choices
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  Speaker 1: had cost him. In the 11 months since the beginning
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  Speaker 1: of the year, Terrence Watanabe had lost $ 127 million. Under
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  Speaker 1: the assumption that Terry had more money somewhere, the casino
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  Speaker 1: then gave him a $ 17 million loan, although this by
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  Speaker 1: itself should have been a sign that he was almost
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  Speaker 1: out of money. On the 23rd of January 2008, just
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  Speaker 1: weeks after telling family about his losses, Terrence put his
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  Speaker 1: Omaha mansion up for sale while continuing to chase his
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  Speaker 1: losses in Vegas. He managed to sell the home for
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  Speaker 1: a price of $ 2. 66 million, however at this point it
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  Speaker 1: was already too late. Terrence Watanabe was completely out of money.
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  Speaker 1: He'd wagered $ 4. 2 million in 2005, $ 81 million in 2006,
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  Speaker 1: $ 825 million in 2007, and when his family brought him
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  Speaker 1: back to Omaha in early 2008, Terry had lost more
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  Speaker 1: than anybody else in Las Vegas history, with a three-year
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  Speaker 1: trip costing him a total of $ 204 million. To make
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  Speaker 1: matters worse, Terrence had no job or income yet still
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  Speaker 1: owed the casino $ 14. 7 million, after which Terry put the
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  Speaker 1: blame back onto Caesars, stating that his losses were their fault. Mr.
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  Speaker 1: Watanabe alleges that during this period, Haraz not only didn't
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  Speaker 1: make him leave when he was drunk, but applied him
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  Speaker 1: with alcohol and prescription drugs to encourage him to stay
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  Speaker 1: and gamble, leading Terry to launch a lawsuit against the casino.
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  Speaker 1: Court documents explain Caesars served Mr. Watanabe two to three
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  Speaker 1: 750ml bottles of Jewel of Russia vodka per day every day.
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  Speaker 1: No Caesars employee ever limited or cut off Mr. Watanabe's drinking,
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  Speaker 1: despite the fact that he was almost always visibly severely
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  Speaker 1: intoxicated when he was being served while gambling. On at
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  Speaker 1: least one occasion at Caesars in 2007, a concerned companion
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  Speaker 1: of Mr Watanabe, Stuart Mitchell, pulled aside his cocktail waitress
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  Speaker 1: and pled with her to water down Mr Watanabe's drinks.
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  Speaker 1: The cocktail waitress refused and curtly responded, Terry gets whatever
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  Speaker 1: he wants. Mr Watanabe had at least two drinks at
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  Speaker 1: his table at all times, so that he could be
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  Speaker 1: kept in a constant state of intoxication while gambling. Mr.
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  Speaker 1: Watanabe's photographs were posted in the employees-only section of the
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  Speaker 1: casino in order to ensure all employees recognized him and
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  Speaker 1: never refused him anything. Caesar's employees never attempted to limit
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  Speaker 1: or cut off Mr. Watanabe's drinking or restrict his gambling
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  Speaker 1: because they understood that any interference with his drinking or
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  Speaker 1: gambling could cost them their jobs. In response to the lawsuit,
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  Speaker 1: a spokesperson for the casino stated, We're in the gambling business.
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  Speaker 1: We had no reason to believe that Terry Watanabe was
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  Speaker 1: anything other than a big player, with huge resources who
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  Speaker 1: made an adult decision to bet the money he did.
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  Speaker 1: Are we going to provide an environment that keeps him
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  Speaker 1: very happy? Of course we are. The casino then launched
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  Speaker 1: criminal proceedings against Terry, meaning that on top of everything,
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  Speaker 1: he was now facing up to 28 years in prison
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  Speaker 1: for the unpaid $ 14 million. An article was then published
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  Speaker 1: in the months that followed, announcing that both Terry and
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  Speaker 1: the casino had each dropped their lawsuits. However, Terry's life
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  Speaker 1: never recovered afterwards.
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  Speaker 2: On the 29th of July 2017, Terry announced that he
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  Speaker 2: had cancer, hoping to raise $ 100, 000 on GoFundMe for treatment,
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  Speaker 2: with a description reading, But my.
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  Speaker 1: Hope is that you'll find it in your heart to
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  Speaker 1: forgive me for my past, and help me live long
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  Speaker 1: enough to help others in the future. Attach was a
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  Speaker 1: video talking about how bad things had become.
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  Speaker 2: Although despite this, he was unable to reach his goal,
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  Speaker 2: yet still managing to raise an impressive $ 28, 000. In January 2020,
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  Speaker 2: Terry joined Twitter before.
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  Speaker 1: Stating, Today I try to live a good life and
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  Speaker 1: be a good man. Despite my past flaws and mistakes,
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  Speaker 1: I've always sought to do good and help people. I
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  Speaker 1: hope I can still have a positive impact on those
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  Speaker 1: in the future by sharing my story both highs and lows,
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  Speaker 1: funny and sad moments, showing that Terry quite impressively now
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  Speaker 1: took full responsibility for his own mistakes.