(CNS) Posted Thursday April 28, 2011 – 10:52am

A judge today threw out a countersuit by Joe Francis in which the "Girls Gone Wild' founder alleged casino mogul Steve Wynn owed him a discount on a large gambling debt.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Joanne O'Donnell granted a motion by Wynn's lawyers to dismiss the case because no opposition papers were filed with her and no attorney showed up on Francis' behalf. Wynn's defamation case against Francis, which started the current litigation, will proceed.

In his countersuit, Francis claimed that casinos regularly give high-stakes gamblers privileges such as free rooms, food and beverage. They also provide discounts up to 30 percent for the top spenders, the countersuit stated.

Francis maintained he had such a discount deal with Wynn Las Vegas that began in 2007, arranged with Larry Altschul, executive vice president of player development for the casino.

According to the suit, Altschul rescinded the discount in 2008 because the casino claimed that Francis did not pay his debts on time. Francis was more than $2 million in debt at the time and claimed he was never told his discounts would expire. He wanted the reduction to remain in place.

In his suit, Wynn alleges Francis defamed him by telling an Internet gossip site that he threatened to kill the videomaker and bury him in the desert. Wynn denies making the statement.

'In truth and in fact, Wynn never threatened to kill Francis, nor physically threatened him in any manner, and never said he would hit Francis with a shovel and bury him in the desert,' the hotel owner's suit states.

rial of Wynn's case is scheduled Sept. 14.

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