So that’s why we lost so much money last time we went to Vegas! Ha!
Debbie Keller, a San Diego mother of a 3 and 5-year-old, is suing Chuch E. Cheese for promoting gambling addictions in children!
She believes that many of the games intended for children at the popular arcade-style restaurant are actually illegal gambling devices and is seeking $5 million for…her children’s future gambling problems?
Despite the millions in “damages” she is seeking, her lawyer says the lawsuit’s real purpose is to prevent the company from keeping the machines in its game rooms.
Chuck E. Cheese attorneys are moving for a dismissal of the lawsuit on the grounds that the games are legal and the California Legislature never intended to make operating a children’s arcade game a criminal act.
They also raise a good point that even if the games WERE illegal, then Mrs. Keller would be an admitted participant in illegal gambling and therefore barred from seeking damages.
Gambling addiction expert Bob Cabiness, who owns a treatment center for compulsive gambling in Virginia, doesn’t the lawsuit stands much of a chance, saying:
“I don’t think [Keller] has a case. If the mother feels there’s gambling at Chuck E. Cheese, she shouldn’t take the kids there.”
Can’t really argue with that, although we can see how SOME games at the kiddie playplace may resemble those found in a casino. However, we find it hard to see how she deserves millions of dollars in damages.
If anyone has developed a gambling addiction, it may be Debbie Keller who is rolling her legal dice for a $5 million jackpot!