Barkley says he'll pay huge gambling debt

Charles Barkley acknowledged he owes a $400,000 gambling debt to a Las Vegas Strip casino and promised Thursday to repay it after a prosecutor said the retired NBA star faced criminal charges.

``My mistake,'' Barkley said in an interview at a pro-am golf tournament in Hoover, Ala. ``I'm not broke, and I'm going to take care of it.''

Barkley was responding to comments by Clark County District Attorney David Roger, who said prosecutors would file a criminal complaint if he did not pay the debt cited by the Wynn Las Vegas resort.

``He'll have an opportunity like anybody else to make restitution to the hotel,'' Roger said.

The casino alleged in a civil complaint filed Wednesday in a Nevada state court and first reported by the Las Vegas Sun that Barkley failed to repay four $100,000 casino markers, or loans, received last Oct. 18 and 19.

``To date, and despite repeated demands, Barkley has refused to repay the $400,000,'' the complaint said.

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