No deal reached between MGM and gambler who alleges he was drugged, says attorney

A mandatory settlement conference Monday in Las Vegas federal court failed to produce an agreement between MGM Grand and high roller Dwight Manley, according to an attorney for Manley. The gambler alleges he was drugged with Ketamine while playing blackjack at the casino in 2021.

“There is no settlement,” attorney Chris Madel of Minneapolis, who recently signed on to Manley’s case, said Tuesday during a phone interview. “I’m very eager to proceed to trial.”

Evidence in the case indicates MGM executives were aware that Manley was impaired but granted him $3.5 million in credit – well beyond his longstanding limit of $1 million.

Under Nevada Gaming Regulation 5.011, permitting a person who is visibly impaired by alcohol or any other drug to gamble or be served complimentary drinks “is inimical to the public health, safety, morals, good order, or general welfare of the people of the State of Nevada, or that would reflect or tend to reflect discredit upon the State of Nevada or the gaming industry,” and is grounds for disciplinary action.

Gaming regulators have announced no disciplinary action against MGM.

MGM argues that Manley’s allegations are designed to avoid paying his gambling debt, which he has largely paid.

“I don’t like to take on cases, particularly trials, when I think I’m going to lose,” Madel responded Tuesday when asked about Manley’s chance of prevailing in the lawsuit.

Madel characterized MGM’s contention that text messages between Manley’s casino host, Vanessa Reboton, and credit executive Justin Manacher are missing, “in this case, on both phones, is beyond suspicious, and frankly, almost laughable.”

Madel says MGM’s outside counsel in the case, Lawrence Semenza, was joined at the conference by MGM’s general counsel John McManus and Scott Pettitt, an MGM vice president and legal counsel. Semenza and McManus did not respond to requests for comment.

Madel may be best known in Nevada for dropping out in January from Minnesota’s Republican gubernatorial race, and for slamming President Donald Trump’s administration over its immigration crackdown in that state.