Supplier News
US – Superior Court rules sides with Golden Nugget in unshuffled game
By Phil - 16 February 2015
A Superior court has now ruled that players who won $1.5m at an Atlantic City casino after figuring out the cards hadn’t been shuffled must pay back the money.
State Superior Court Judge Donna Taylor ruled in favour of the Golden Nugget casino saying the games of mini-baccarat played in April 2012 were illegal due to the cards not being shuffled. The casino has been in dispute with 14 gamblers ever since claiming that it had paid a manufacturer to pre-shuffle but that hadn’t been shuffled. Once players realized the pattern in which the cards were emerging they drastically upped their bets from $10 a hand to $5,000 and won 41 straight hands.
The judge said: “The dealer did not pre-shuffle the cards immediately prior to the commencement of play, and the cards were not pre-shuffled in accordance with any regulation. Thus, a literal reading of the regulations … entails that the game violated the (Casino Control) Act, and consequently was not authorized.”
The Golden Nugget’s casino general manager Tom Pohlman said. “We believe it was the right decision.”
The casino had initially paid about $500,000 in winnings to the gamblers, and around $1m in chips. This must now all be paid back while the casino in turn must refund the gamblers’ original stakes.
Kansas City playing card manufacturer Gemaco, conceded it had made an error in supplying unshuffled cards to the casino, however a Golden Nugget lawyer said a confidentiality agreement prevented any further comment. Having realised the cards were being dealt in a specific pattern, the $1.5m in winnings was ‘won’ by 14 players over 41 straight hands. Many of the players were said to increase their bets from $10 a hand to $5,000. The Golden Nugget said surveillance supervisors closed in to discover how ‘a sophisticated swindling and cheating scheme’ was being carried out.
“From the beginning to the end of play, however, the plaintiff could not identify any particular act of those players that actually constituted swindling and cheating,” the casino stated.
Nine players were able to cash out $558,900 in gaming chips but a further $977,800 had been owed.
Following a preliminary court ruling two years ago Golden Nugget owner Tilman Fertitta had originally offered to pay the remainder of the disputed winnings. However the players rejected the deal. The judge’s decision was the latest in a long series of legal rulings.
