A twenty-eight-year-old New Zealand man won a US$44,000 jackpot at the popular casino game Caribbean Stud Poker, but was not allowed to collect his winnings. Sothea Sinn of Auckland was denied the jackpot because he signed a self-exclusion agreement with the SkyCity Casino six years earlier.

According to wire reports, Mr. Sinn signed the agreement, along with his then-girlfriend, to stop his problem gambling. Mr. Sinn said that he believed that the self-exclusion pact had expired, which is why he was playing at the tables. However, casino officials said that Mr. Sinn had not fulfilled the requirements for counseling before the restrictions could be lifted.

Mr. Sinn told the Auckland Dominion-Post newspaper that he was “absolutely gutted” when casino staff gave him the news. He said that he plans to sue the casino and take his case up with New Zealand’s national gambling authorities. Currently, New Zealand law prohibits a casino from paying a jackpot to an admitted problem gambler.

A similar case occurred in Vancouver, Canada, less than two weeks ago. Mike Lee had won a US$41,000 jackpot from a slot machine at the Chances Chowichan Casino, but was denied his winnings due to his signing of a self-exclusion agreement with the British Columbia Lottery Corporation, the provincial agency that regulates the area’s gambling establishments.