A Halifax man who had not had a drink in 34 years was accidentally served liquor at Casino Nova Scotia earlier this month. His angry reaction to what he considers a dangerous mistake got him suspended from the casino.

Emmett Peters, 57, says he has been sober since his early 20s, following a decade of hard drinking that started with the death of his father when he was 13 years old.

On Jan. 6, he was at the Halifax casino playing poker and drinking ginger ale, his usual choice. He ordered another ginger ale but was engrossed in the game when his waitress served him. He took a sip, only to discover it was beer, he told CBC News on Sunday.

Peters was furious and smashed his glass before storming out. It took him several days to get over what had happened. He said he had told the waitress he did not drink alcohol.

"I was crying," he said. "I mean I felt tainted. It was like going back to the first time I quit drinking. I felt like I lost my sobriety I guess. It really shook me up. It took me a week to get back to normal."

The casino has banned him for three months. It also said it was taking the drink mistake seriously and spoke with staff to emphasize the importance of not serving alcohol to people who have not ordered it.

Peters said he is always vigilant against alcohol but let his guard down briefly at the casino and learned his lesson the hard way.

"I've been out to a restaurant maybe three times since then and I specifically ask, 'Are you sure that's a ginger ale?' so they'll bring it over in a can," he said.

He said he was speaking out to tell servers that for some recovering alcoholics, one sip is too many. Peters stayed clean but said many of his fellow recovering alcoholics have told him they might not have been able to stop drinking after such an incident.

Peters is not sure if he will go back to the casino once his suspension is over.