Porn Maker Joe Francis Owes $2 Million in Casino Debt

Who do you trust, a major Las Vegas casino operation, or a happy-go-lucky porn film maker who openly admits that he always gets his way? That question will be for the courts to decide as Wynn Las Vegas casino and ‘Girls Gone Wild’ producer Joe Francis duke it out.

According to Wynn, Joe Francis borrowed $2.5 million on credit back in February of 2007, and then gambled it all away at the casino. He then sent payment of $500,000 on the debt, but nothing more ever came. Four years later, Wynn Las Vegas is taking him to court for the remaining $2 million owed.

As the Associated Press posted it, “Francis is accused of signing gambling markers, essentially IOUs, at the Wynn Las Vegas casino in February 2007 without being able to repay.”

Now let’s flip the coin. Francis says he was promised a limit of $200,000 on his losses. He also maintains that he should be given a discount on his losses. He asserts that as a big time gambler, he was assured 10-30% off any gambling debts accrued.

Wynn Las Vegas refuted this claim, stating that the discount was forfeited in 2008 when Francis failed to pay off the debt. Joe, however, says he was never informed that the discount had an expiration date.

Mr. Francis also tossed in a pile of rather ridiculous claims, unsubstantiated of course, one of them being that he was enticed into gambling by the casino. Apparently the establishment provided him with hookers, and somehow this gave him the uncontrollable desire to gamble?

Joe went on to provide a list of rather unpleasant accusations aimed at the casino, which quickly resulted in a defamation lawsuit against Francis. Among them, he says that the casino was forging customer signatures, deliberately miscalculating markers and destroying security surveillance videos.

Thus far, things are not looking too good for the porn film producer. Francis has been ordered to stand trial by a Las Vegas grand jury for non-payment of the $2,000,000 gambling debt; a criminal case that carries a maximum sentence of up to 4 years in prison.

The founder of Mantra Films still remains buoyantly optimistic about the whole thing. “I’m 100% confident that I will prevail, just like I always do. Steve Wynn has enormous influence over the politicians in the Las Vegas area…so I’m sure he’s behind this. The moral of the story is don’t gamble at the Wynn casinos or this could happen to you.”

I don’t know about you, but I will be keeping a close eye on this one, if only for the comedic factor alone. You have a major casino company in Las Vegas going against one of the most arrogant sleaze-film manufacturers on the planet. Get out your foam fingers – it’s going to be a good one!