He Lost It All Gambling

1. He Lost It All Gambling Games
2. He Lost It All Gambling Losses
3. He Lost It All Gambling Casinos

Leonard Hyman Tose (March 6, 1915 – April 15, 2003) was an owner of the Philadelphia Eagles from 1969–1985. He made a fortune in the trucking industry and was known for his lavish lifestyle. He eventually lost his fortune because of a gambling addiction^[1] and alcoholism.

Early years[edit]

Tose's father, a Russian Jewish immigrant^[2] to the United States, settled outside Philadelphia and was a peddler with a pack on his back. He eventually owned 10 trucks, the beginning of the family business. Eventually, Tose Inc. owned more than 700 trucks and grossed $20 million a year. Tose was born in Bridgeport, Pennsylvania and graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1937.^[3]

Philadelphia Eagles owner[edit]

Over the next 16 months, he says he lost about $3.6 million with BetEasy. He says much of his frenetic betting activity was driven by the free bonus bets on offer. How he lost his money: During his early days in radio in the 1960s, King's low-level salary didn't support his big spending habits, including a fondness for gambling. By 1978, he had to file for. A former financial planner lost $8 million of his own and other people's money betting on racing and sports Gavin Fineff says it took three and half years before TAB asked him for proof of his income After his betting account was frozen he says he was poached by two other online betting companies. For Victorian Paul Fung, problem gambling is what tore his life apart. Mr Fung had been gambling for more than two decades, betting on everything from horses to footy matches to casino games, before the catastrophic three-week period when he lost almost a million dollars. Anything he could win on, he bet on. It all started innocently enough. It is said that he once wagered nearly $25 million spread on four roulette table and lost it all. Due to his high-stakes gambling ventures in blackjack poker and baccarat, he managed to lose 42 million in less than a year (Between September 1999 to August 2000). Gobernador del poker 1 online game.

Tose, a lifelong fan of the Philadelphia Eagles, invested in the team as a member of the 'Happy Hundred,' a group led by James P. Clark. Tose invested $3,000 as one of the one hundred owners to purchase the team from Alexis Thompson on January 15, 1949. Tose tried to buy the team with his own group of investors in 1956, but was unable to do so. The team was bought in December 1963 by Jerry Wolman for $5,505,000 and Tose received more than $60,000.^[4] He bought the team from Wolman in 1969 for $16,155,000, then a record for a professional sports franchise. Tose's first official act was to fire head coach Joe Kuharich.^[5] He followed this by naming former Eagles receiving great Pete Retzlaff as general manager and Jerry Williams as coach.

In 1976, he, along with General ManagerJimmy Murray, lured Dick Vermeil from UCLA to coach the hapless Eagles, who had one winning season from 1962–1975. Vermeil's 1980 team lost to Oakland in the Super Bowl. In January 1983, Tose announced that his daughter, Susan Fletcher, the Eagles' vice president and legal counsel, would eventually succeed him as primary owner of the Eagles.

In 1985, after a failed attempt to swap franchises with Ralph Wilson (whose Buffalo Bills were then under severe distress),^[6] Tose was forced to sell the Eagles to Norman Braman and Ed Leibowitz, highly successful automobile dealers from Florida, for a reported $65 million to pay off his more than $25 million in gambling debts at Atlantic City casinos.

After the Eagles[edit]

In 1991, the Sands sued him for $1.23 million in gambling debts. He countersued, contending that the casino got him too drunk to know what he was doing. Eventually, the casino won. There was testimony from a cocktail waitress swearing that her job description was 'to keep Mr. Tose's glass filled.' The casino provided a monogrammed glass which she was instructed to keep filled with top-shelf scotch.

In the end, he lost it all, by his estimate more than $20 million at Resorts International and $14 million at the Sands. In 1996, on his 81st birthday, Tose was evicted from his seven-bedroom Villanova mansion after losing the house in a U.S. Marshal's sale.

In 1999, he told a congressional hearing on compulsive gambling that his losses totaled between $40 million and $50 million. He spent his last years alone in a downtown hotel room after his home in Philadelphia's upscale Main Line district was confiscated for unpaid taxes. Mr. Tose died in his sleep in the hospice wing of St. Agnes Medical Center in Philadelphia on April 15, 2003. He was 88. No cause of death was released. An obituary by Dan Dunkin captured his life: 'To put Leonard Tose's life in football terms, he threw on every down.'

Personal life[edit]

Tose had been married five times. His first wife was Jayne Ester Orenstein, who was also Jewish;^[7] they had two daughters, Nan Tose Schwartz and Susan Tose Fletcher.^[7][8] His second wife was Andrea Tose;^[8] they divorced in 1981.^[9] In 1981, he married his third wife, former stewardess Caroline Collum, who used to be in charge of the Eagles cheerleaders, the Liberty Belles;^[9] they divorced and she then married I.G. 'Jack' Davis, the former president of Resorts International Casino Hotel;^[10] and later she married Sidney Kimmel, the founder of the Jones Apparel Group.^[11] His fourth wife was Julia Farber of Cherry Hill, New Jersey.^[8]

Tose was, by his admission, a compulsive gambler and an alcoholic with a lifestyle others called flamboyant and he called comfortable.^{[citation needed]} He and the fourth of his five wives had matching Rolls-Royces. Tose flew to Eagles home games in a helicopter, was married aboard the liner Queen Elizabeth 2 and fed reporters filet mignon and shrimp cocktail.

During his tenure as Eagles owner, Tose was instrumental in helping establish the first Ronald McDonald House. Together with General Manager Jim Murray and Eagles player Fred Hill (whose daughter had leukemia), Dr. Audrey Evans and McDonald's regional manager Ed Rensi, a house was established for families to stay when their children received treatment for pediatric cancers. The house was financed by proceeds from sales of Shamrock Shakes throughout the Philadelphia area.^[12]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^'Leonard H. Tose, 88; Ex-Owner of NFL's Eagles Lost Fortune Gambling'. Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times. 16 April 2003. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
2. ^GQ Magazine: 'Leonard Tose'Archived 2013-08-10 at the Wayback Machine September 17, 2012
3. ^'Archives | the Philadelphia Inquirer'.
4. ^Didinger, Ray; Robert S. Lyons (2005). The Eagles Encyclopedia. Temple University Press. pp. 127–128. ISBN1-59213-449-1.
5. ^Fitzpatrick, Frank (April 16, 2003). 'Ex-Eagles owner Leonard Tose dies'. The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
6. ^Fink, James (December 11, 2017). 'Buffalo Eagles? Philadelphia Bills? It might have happened, book says'. Business First. Retrieved December 11, 2017.
7. ^ ^abKing David Memorial Chapel: 'In Memory of Jayne Esther Achter July 28, 1919 - January 22, 2012' retrieved January 22, 2014
8. ^ ^abcNew York Times: 'BOSS'S DAUGHTER TAKES FIRM COMMAND OF EAGLES' By MICHAEL JANOFSKY May 16, 1983
9. ^ ^abVictoria Advocate: 'And You Though It Was A Game..Eagle's Owner Battles Ex-Wife' by John F. Berry January 18, 1981
10. ^Philadelphia Inquirer: 'The Trials Of Leonard Tose Court Papers Offer New Image Of Flamboyant Ex-eagles Owner' By Michael Sokolove January 10, 1993
11. ^Philly.com: 'The Man Behind The Name On Arts Center' By Peter Dobrin and Stephen Seplow June 14, 2000
12. ^'Archived copy'. Archived from the original on 2013-01-11. Retrieved 2013-01-06.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

Further reading[edit]

Paul Fung lost almost a million dollars in three weeks on gambling. Picture: SBS.Source:Supplied

PROBLEM gambling is often spoken about in hushed tones in the shadows, if at all. The stigma attached to it is so strong that there are those who still see problem gamblers as 'weak' or using it as a 'cop out'.

But problem gambling is like any other addiction such as alcohol or drugs with sufferers displaying characteristics including tolerance, withdrawal and difficulty controlling urges, according to the American psychology bible, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual IV.

For Victorian Paul Fung, problem gambling is what tore his life apart.

Mr Fung had been gambling for more than two decades, betting on everything from horses to footy matches to casino games, before the catastrophic three-week period when he lost almost a million dollars. Anything he could win on, he bet on.

It all started innocently enough. Mr Fung was eight when he first gambled, betting with 10 cent and 20 cent pieces to spice up Chinese card games and mahjong with family and friends.

He moved on to horses by the age of 14, asking anyone who was willing to place bets for him. By the time Mr Fung was 16, he had acquired a fake ID and could stride into a TAB himself and spent every weekend studying the form guide and perfecting his ‘system'. Gambling treatment clinic university of sydney.

Paul Fung was betting on horse races by the time he was 14 years old.Source:Supplied

He didn't think so at the time, but Mr Fung said gambling started to affect his school work. 'I was in denial at the time but when I look back at my grades in the last few years of school, they definitely slipped,' he told news.com.au.

He Lost It All Gambling Games

Once he turned 18, he engaged in more forms of gambling including the myriad games on offer at the casino. It was also around this time his parents started to express some concern. But they would still give him money whenever he asked for it, something that continued for many years.

'It was an adrenalin rush when you won, it was such a huge thrill,' he said. 'I just wanted to gamble. It didn't matter what it was, as long as I could put money down and get some back. But when you lose, you justify that bad feeling only lasted a short period of time. You look for the next win, which you convinced yourself will override that losing feeling.'

But as time went on, Mr Fung said the lows got lower while the highs didn't get higher.

After school, he took on a jockey apprenticeship but continued to bet on horses despite strict rules against it. He said he never used his position to influence the outcome of any races.

Paul Fung said he would bet on anything he could win from.Source:Supplied

Over the next 10 years, gambling consumed his life. He said: 'You'd forego almost everything to gamble. Eating, showering and work all came second.' Mr Fung couldn't keep a romantic relationship going for more than a year. He started to see relationships within the same frame as gambling — the chase and the thrill and then deciding whether to ‘gamble' any more time on that person.

The nadir came a few years ago. His brother put his mortgage under Mr Fung's name and all of a sudden he had access to a massive amount of money. Up until that point, the most he'd lost in one spree would be $15,000 in a wild night out at a casino.

Starting off with bets of a few hundred dollars, within three weeks his gambling spiralled out of control to bets of tens of thousands of dollars. He had lost almost a million dollars betting online, drawing from his brother's mortgage.

'I could transfer the money really easily. It was scary because I knew I was in the hamster wheel and I just kept hoping I could get back what I lost.

'For a few days I hid the loss but then my brother came back from overseas and I had to confess to my family what I had done. They were shattered. They knew I had this issue for so long but I had completely broken their trust with my dishonesty and deceit.'

Online gambling sites on a laptop computer.Source:News Limited

His brother lost his house which had to be sold to pay back the debt. His relationship with his family, especially his brother, is still strained but Mr Fung said he is working to repair it.

Six months after the million dollar incident, Mr Fung was at a close mate's house talking about his problems when his friend's father walked into the room.

'It was by chance that I found help. His father asked me to go along with him to a meeting he ran. I was still in a lot of denial but I thought, realistically, what did I have to lose? Nothing in my life was going right at the time.'

Mr Fung said the Gamblers Anonymous meeting had an immediate effect on him and he continued with them and sought out other help from counsellors and support groups.

'At first I was frightened, anxious and scared but after talking to people I felt inspired. Because problem gambling is not something the community talks about openly, you feel alienated and isolated, like you're the only one with this huge problem.

Up to 170,000 Australians suffer from problem gambling, according to a Productivity CommiSource:HeraldSun

'It's such a huge stigma. You can't tell a gambler, they could be a CEO or a plumber. You can't physically see the signs on a person.'

Mr Fung shared his story last night on SBS' Insight program, which looked at problem gambling and young people.

Mr Fung now volunteers with a telephone support service where he talks to other gamblers in the Chinese community.

'I tell them my experiences and it's been a real help as part of my own recovery. For someone who's lost a bit of direction, it's a lot easier to talk to someone who understands and has been through it than a doctor or a family member.'

Asked if there are enough resources for problem gamblers, Mr Fung said the resources are there if you want them but you have to seek them.

As for the proliferation of online gambling platforms, Mr Fung said: 'It's quite infuriating. I find it hard to see and listen to these things. A few years ago, there were not many of them but now it's total saturation. To me, the word horrendous comes to mind.'

Tom Waterhouse became the poster child for the online betting industry, with the communitSource:News Limited

The issue of betting advertising in sports was the subject of two parliamentary inquiries last year after significant community backlash over live odds and the integration of betting personality Tom Waterhouse into Channel 9's NRL broadcast. Mr Fung believes there should be more government legislation to protect the community from excessive advertising from betting companies.

He Lost It All Gambling Losses

A month after embarking on the recovery path, Mr Fung had a relapse. But since then he's gone cold turkey. But it's not that easy.

'Of course it pops into your mind every now and then. Like with any addiction, once an addict, always an addict. It's how you deal with the day-to-day. Addictions are caused by emotions and if you can't deal with or cope with those emotions, then the chances of falling back into it are high.'

In 1999, he told a congressional hearing on compulsive gambling that his losses totaled between $40 million and $50 million. He spent his last years alone in a downtown hotel room after his home in Philadelphia's upscale Main Line district was confiscated for unpaid taxes. Mr. Tose died in his sleep in the hospice wing of St. Agnes Medical Center in Philadelphia on April 15, 2003. He was 88. No cause of death was released. An obituary by Dan Dunkin captured his life: 'To put Leonard Tose's life in football terms, he threw on every down.'

Personal life[edit]

Tose had been married five times. His first wife was Jayne Ester Orenstein, who was also Jewish;^[7] they had two daughters, Nan Tose Schwartz and Susan Tose Fletcher.^[7][8] His second wife was Andrea Tose;^[8] they divorced in 1981.^[9] In 1981, he married his third wife, former stewardess Caroline Collum, who used to be in charge of the Eagles cheerleaders, the Liberty Belles;^[9] they divorced and she then married I.G. 'Jack' Davis, the former president of Resorts International Casino Hotel;^[10] and later she married Sidney Kimmel, the founder of the Jones Apparel Group.^[11] His fourth wife was Julia Farber of Cherry Hill, New Jersey.^[8]

Tose was, by his admission, a compulsive gambler and an alcoholic with a lifestyle others called flamboyant and he called comfortable.^{[citation needed]} He and the fourth of his five wives had matching Rolls-Royces. Tose flew to Eagles home games in a helicopter, was married aboard the liner Queen Elizabeth 2 and fed reporters filet mignon and shrimp cocktail.

During his tenure as Eagles owner, Tose was instrumental in helping establish the first Ronald McDonald House. Together with General Manager Jim Murray and Eagles player Fred Hill (whose daughter had leukemia), Dr. Audrey Evans and McDonald's regional manager Ed Rensi, a house was established for families to stay when their children received treatment for pediatric cancers. The house was financed by proceeds from sales of Shamrock Shakes throughout the Philadelphia area.^[12]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^'Leonard H. Tose, 88; Ex-Owner of NFL's Eagles Lost Fortune Gambling'. Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times. 16 April 2003. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
2. ^GQ Magazine: 'Leonard Tose'Archived 2013-08-10 at the Wayback Machine September 17, 2012
3. ^'Archives | the Philadelphia Inquirer'.
4. ^Didinger, Ray; Robert S. Lyons (2005). The Eagles Encyclopedia. Temple University Press. pp. 127–128. ISBN1-59213-449-1.
5. ^Fitzpatrick, Frank (April 16, 2003). 'Ex-Eagles owner Leonard Tose dies'. The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
6. ^Fink, James (December 11, 2017). 'Buffalo Eagles? Philadelphia Bills? It might have happened, book says'. Business First. Retrieved December 11, 2017.
7. ^ ^abKing David Memorial Chapel: 'In Memory of Jayne Esther Achter July 28, 1919 - January 22, 2012' retrieved January 22, 2014
8. ^ ^abcNew York Times: 'BOSS'S DAUGHTER TAKES FIRM COMMAND OF EAGLES' By MICHAEL JANOFSKY May 16, 1983
9. ^ ^abVictoria Advocate: 'And You Though It Was A Game..Eagle's Owner Battles Ex-Wife' by John F. Berry January 18, 1981
10. ^Philadelphia Inquirer: 'The Trials Of Leonard Tose Court Papers Offer New Image Of Flamboyant Ex-eagles Owner' By Michael Sokolove January 10, 1993
11. ^Philly.com: 'The Man Behind The Name On Arts Center' By Peter Dobrin and Stephen Seplow June 14, 2000
12. ^'Archived copy'. Archived from the original on 2013-01-11. Retrieved 2013-01-06.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

Further reading[edit]

Paul Fung lost almost a million dollars in three weeks on gambling. Picture: SBS.Source:Supplied

PROBLEM gambling is often spoken about in hushed tones in the shadows, if at all. The stigma attached to it is so strong that there are those who still see problem gamblers as 'weak' or using it as a 'cop out'.

But problem gambling is like any other addiction such as alcohol or drugs with sufferers displaying characteristics including tolerance, withdrawal and difficulty controlling urges, according to the American psychology bible, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual IV.

For Victorian Paul Fung, problem gambling is what tore his life apart.

Mr Fung had been gambling for more than two decades, betting on everything from horses to footy matches to casino games, before the catastrophic three-week period when he lost almost a million dollars. Anything he could win on, he bet on.

It all started innocently enough. Mr Fung was eight when he first gambled, betting with 10 cent and 20 cent pieces to spice up Chinese card games and mahjong with family and friends.

He moved on to horses by the age of 14, asking anyone who was willing to place bets for him. By the time Mr Fung was 16, he had acquired a fake ID and could stride into a TAB himself and spent every weekend studying the form guide and perfecting his ‘system'. Gambling treatment clinic university of sydney.

Paul Fung was betting on horse races by the time he was 14 years old.Source:Supplied

He didn't think so at the time, but Mr Fung said gambling started to affect his school work. 'I was in denial at the time but when I look back at my grades in the last few years of school, they definitely slipped,' he told news.com.au.

He Lost It All Gambling Games

Once he turned 18, he engaged in more forms of gambling including the myriad games on offer at the casino. It was also around this time his parents started to express some concern. But they would still give him money whenever he asked for it, something that continued for many years.

'It was an adrenalin rush when you won, it was such a huge thrill,' he said. 'I just wanted to gamble. It didn't matter what it was, as long as I could put money down and get some back. But when you lose, you justify that bad feeling only lasted a short period of time. You look for the next win, which you convinced yourself will override that losing feeling.'

But as time went on, Mr Fung said the lows got lower while the highs didn't get higher.

After school, he took on a jockey apprenticeship but continued to bet on horses despite strict rules against it. He said he never used his position to influence the outcome of any races.

Paul Fung said he would bet on anything he could win from.Source:Supplied

Over the next 10 years, gambling consumed his life. He said: 'You'd forego almost everything to gamble. Eating, showering and work all came second.' Mr Fung couldn't keep a romantic relationship going for more than a year. He started to see relationships within the same frame as gambling — the chase and the thrill and then deciding whether to ‘gamble' any more time on that person.

The nadir came a few years ago. His brother put his mortgage under Mr Fung's name and all of a sudden he had access to a massive amount of money. Up until that point, the most he'd lost in one spree would be $15,000 in a wild night out at a casino.

Starting off with bets of a few hundred dollars, within three weeks his gambling spiralled out of control to bets of tens of thousands of dollars. He had lost almost a million dollars betting online, drawing from his brother's mortgage.

'I could transfer the money really easily. It was scary because I knew I was in the hamster wheel and I just kept hoping I could get back what I lost.

'For a few days I hid the loss but then my brother came back from overseas and I had to confess to my family what I had done. They were shattered. They knew I had this issue for so long but I had completely broken their trust with my dishonesty and deceit.'

Online gambling sites on a laptop computer.Source:News Limited

His brother lost his house which had to be sold to pay back the debt. His relationship with his family, especially his brother, is still strained but Mr Fung said he is working to repair it.

Six months after the million dollar incident, Mr Fung was at a close mate's house talking about his problems when his friend's father walked into the room.

'It was by chance that I found help. His father asked me to go along with him to a meeting he ran. I was still in a lot of denial but I thought, realistically, what did I have to lose? Nothing in my life was going right at the time.'

Mr Fung said the Gamblers Anonymous meeting had an immediate effect on him and he continued with them and sought out other help from counsellors and support groups.

'At first I was frightened, anxious and scared but after talking to people I felt inspired. Because problem gambling is not something the community talks about openly, you feel alienated and isolated, like you're the only one with this huge problem.

Up to 170,000 Australians suffer from problem gambling, according to a Productivity CommiSource:HeraldSun

'It's such a huge stigma. You can't tell a gambler, they could be a CEO or a plumber. You can't physically see the signs on a person.'

Mr Fung shared his story last night on SBS' Insight program, which looked at problem gambling and young people.

Mr Fung now volunteers with a telephone support service where he talks to other gamblers in the Chinese community.

'I tell them my experiences and it's been a real help as part of my own recovery. For someone who's lost a bit of direction, it's a lot easier to talk to someone who understands and has been through it than a doctor or a family member.'

Asked if there are enough resources for problem gamblers, Mr Fung said the resources are there if you want them but you have to seek them.

As for the proliferation of online gambling platforms, Mr Fung said: 'It's quite infuriating. I find it hard to see and listen to these things. A few years ago, there were not many of them but now it's total saturation. To me, the word horrendous comes to mind.'

Tom Waterhouse became the poster child for the online betting industry, with the communitSource:News Limited

The issue of betting advertising in sports was the subject of two parliamentary inquiries last year after significant community backlash over live odds and the integration of betting personality Tom Waterhouse into Channel 9's NRL broadcast. Mr Fung believes there should be more government legislation to protect the community from excessive advertising from betting companies.

He Lost It All Gambling Losses

A month after embarking on the recovery path, Mr Fung had a relapse. But since then he's gone cold turkey. But it's not that easy.

'Of course it pops into your mind every now and then. Like with any addiction, once an addict, always an addict. It's how you deal with the day-to-day. Addictions are caused by emotions and if you can't deal with or cope with those emotions, then the chances of falling back into it are high.'

Today, he's been ‘clean' for 643 days.

A Productivity Commission report in 2009 estimated that there are between 90,000 and 170,000 Australian adults suffering from significant gambling problems and a further 230,000 to 350,000 people at moderate risk for problem gambling.

He Lost It All Gambling Casinos

If you think you may have a gambling problem, visit Gambling Help Online or the federal government's Problem Gambling website.

To catch up on this week's SBS Insight program, click here.