According to a state law that is more than a century old, gamblers can
recoup money lost, and now a new lawsuit is aimed at the Birmingham Race
Course with that goal in mind. A judge at the Jefferson County courthouse
will decide whether the case can go forward as a class-action lawsuit. Most
people think that it’s a given that when people walk through the doors of
the Birmingham Race Course, if they bet, they could lose money. Attorney
Matt Lembke, however, said that there’s a state law protecting gamblers. The
Legislature passed the law in 1852, which says that if a gambler loses money
in a bet, he has six months in which to have that money returned. A man’s
wife, children and next of kin have 12 months to go back to the person who
won the bet and collect money lost. Lembke filed a lawsuit Monday on behalf
of all Alabamians who have gambled and lost to the sweepstakes games at the
Birmingham Race Course. “I think this is part of a carefully structured
policy on part of the Alabama Legislature to discuss gambling. Alabama law
is clear: gambling is illegal, and this is a manner in which the Alabama
Legislature said we need and it’s on the books and we think the statute
ought to be enforced,” said Lembke. First, a circuit court judge has to rule
on whether the filing meets class-action qualifications. If it does, Lembke
is counting on the race course to inadvertently help his clients recoup
their bad bets.
“It is our understanding that the race course has an elective database where
each customer has an account which would show exactly how much they pay and
exactly who much they won or lost,” said Lembke. There would feasibly be
thousands of clients and millions of dollars involved.

Lembke’s law firm was involved in suing the track for operating illegal
gaming machines, which the Alabama Supreme Court ruled on Friday broke state
law.

“If history is any guide, Mr. McGregor will fight this tenaciously and we
will fight this tenaciously and it will be up for the judge to decide if
this meets the qualifications for a class-action under Alabama law,” said
Lembke.

He advises anyone who has lost money to wait for the outcome of the
class-action suit ruling and said that anyone who has lost money will be
contacted.