SYDNEY'S Star City Casino irresponsibly granted high-roller status to a pathological gambler who lost $8 million in stolen money, a judge said today. Former Commonwealth Bank employee Erick Tjandra, 32, was jailed for a minimum three years on 37 counts of defrauding the bank. Over a 15-month period Tjandra stole $10.4 million from the bank, $8 million of which he "poured down the throat of the casino'', District Court Judge Christopher Armitage said today. The casino had allowed the bank clerk to play in the high-rollers room alone against the house, Judge Armitage said. ''(It was) the height of irresponsibility for the casino to have placed such a vulnerable person in the situation of gambling in what is called the Kerry Packer Room, against the house,'' he said. "He was not Kerry Packer, he is not ... an Asian prince. "He is a humble bank clerk who unfortunately developed a gambling addiction beyond his means.'' Tjandra was sentenced to five years' jail with a non-parole period of three years. He will be eligible for release in October 2009.