Blackjack player offers $1M to find who drugged him
Lawsuit alleges man became disoriented while playing
Las Vegas residents may have recently spotted red and yellow billboards offering a $1 million reward for information regarding a drugging at MGM Grand on Dec. 10, 2021.
“WHO DRUGGED A PLAYER’S DRINK AT MGM MANSION BAR DECEMBER 10, 2021,” can be read on the billboards.
The billboards refer to a federal lawsuit filed in November 2022 by Dwight Manley, a Southern California real estate developer and former sports agent who claims he was drugged with ketamine while playing blackjack in the high-limit area of the MGM casino.
Due to the effects of the ketamine, Manley “was so disoriented that he left $500,000 in gaming chips on the blackjack table” and was extended $3.5 million in casino credits without his knowledge, according to the complaint filed in the District of Nevada.
“Upon getting up from the blackjack table, (Manley’s) friends quickly realized something was seriously wrong with (Manley) and took him back to his villa, keeping him from leaving the hotel (instead of traveling to the Venetian),” the suit said. “(Manley) was so disoriented that he could not stand or walk without assistance.”
Manley hired De Becker Investigations, a private investigation and consulting firm in Las Vegas, to look into his case, Hal de Becker, III, the firm’s president, told USA TODAY.
“(Manley) is paying for the billboards,” de Becker said. “He’s got about 14 of them around town displaying the same signage for a $1 million reward for any information leading to the arrest of the person that drugged him in MGM.”
The billboards have been up for a week, de Becker said.
How was Manley drugged?
Manley had traveled to Las Vegas on Dec. 10, 2021, with his girlfriend and a few friends to enter a poker tournament being held at MGM, the complaint says. Once he sat down at the blackjack table, he drank an Old-Fashioned cocktail and eventually began to feel disoriented, the file states.
The real estate executive became so incapacitated he “shattered an ashtray, cut his hand and was bleeding onto the blackjack table’s felt,” the suit says. Manley did not “recall cutting his hand, did not feel any pain and was unaware that he was bleeding,” according to the complaint.
In less than three hours, Manley said MGM increased his credit and “extended him credit in an amount significantly higher than it ever had extended (him) in more than 30 years of the casino (and) patron relationship.”
The MGM’s motion to dismiss, filed in April, counters Manley’s claim and says he requested and executed three credit increases totaling $3.5 million.
Despite Manley the next day notifying MGM of the drugging and filing a police report, the hotel and casino said he owed them $2 million for the casino credits and an additional $440,000, according to the complaint.
The case is ongoing, with the most recent court action occurring May 9.
USA TODAY contacted MGM Grand, the hotel and casino’s attorneys, and Manley’s attorneys but did not receive a response.