A VIP gambler trying to welch on his £2m debt to London’s Ritz Club Casino says the devil is responsible for his plight.

The Mayfair casino recently sued billionaire Safa Abdulla Al Geabury for £2m in gambling debts run up during a single night of play in February 2014. Al Geabury has refused to honor his marker – along with over £200k in interest – based on his claim that the casino knew he was a gambling addict yet took no steps to limit his activity. Al Geabury has countersued to recover £3.4m in additional losses at the Ritz.

On Monday, in the first of five scheduled days of testimony at the High Court, Al Geabury confirmed his net worth was over £1b. But Al Geabury, who built his fortune on trading in foreign currency and precious gems, says the Ritz had no right to offer him a £5m line of credit due to his “uncontrollable” urge to gamble.

Geabury had excluded himself from the Ritz in November 2009 but the club says he was allowed back in after signing a form acknowledging that he wasn’t a problem gambler. Al Geabury claims he had “conversation after conversation” with casino staff about “how he couldn’t be controlled and how they had to stop him.”