Posted on 08/21/2012 5:05:53 AM PDT by grundle
ATLANTIC CITY — At first, it seemed like a coincidence, the kind of thing that happens from time to time at a casino, where the same number or same sequence of cards happens twice in a row.
But when the players at an April game of mini-baccarat at the Golden Nugget Atlantic City kept seeing the same sequence of cards dealt, over and over and over again, their eyes grew wide and their bets grew bigger, zooming from $10 a hand to $5,000.
Forty-one consecutive winning hands later, the 14 players had racked up more than $1.5 million in winnings — surrounded by casino security convinced they had cheated but unable to prove how.
In a lawsuit against a Kansas City playing card manufacturer, the Golden Nugget contends the cards were unshuffled, despite being promised to be pre-shuffled and ready to use.
It is so basic to the concept of gambling that it often goes without saying: the cards in the deck need to be shuffled before anyone uses them. But in the case of the Golden Nugget, the gamblers did nothing wrong, and deserve to be paid the nearly $1 million they still have coming to them, according to their lawyer, Benjamin Dash.
But in a lawsuit filed against the 14 gamblers in July, that is exactly what the casino seeks, citing state gambling regulations requiring all casino games to offer fair odds — to both sides. The casino's lawsuit asserts the gamblers and the casino both began the game believing it was legal and proper — until the players kept winning over and over again.
The Golden Nugget said it flooded the area with floor persons, managers, supervisors, surveillance and security officers, believing they were watching "a sophisticated swindling and cheating scheme" in progress.
(Excerpt) Read more at nj.com ...
If I’m not mistaken, there have been several cases in which casinos have refused to pay large jackpots to winners of computerized progressive-slot games, claiming that software bugs were responsible for the large payouts.
Depends on what their contract says.
What they were witnessing was totally inept group from the casino manager to the dealer. After the second hand, the dealer should have noticed and called in the floor manager to close the table and inspect the cards. To further add insult to injury, why would they take anyone’s word the decks were pre-shuffled? Never assume anything, especially when it comes to money being involved.
Depends entirely on the contract to buy the cards and the specification. But I doubt the playing card manufacturer is liable for anything more than the cost of the cards. . . and that is only for not delivering product to spec. . .
the casino side is laughable. And that their dealers couldn’t figure out what was wrong is ridiculous. The casino deserves to lose this one
House rules? House Rules.
I appreciated the comment at the site asking for damages for getting bad cards.
Casino doesn’t shuffle their own cards? Almost as stupid as gambling at online Casinos.
Here, let me wire you 50 bucks, then I’ll call you and you tell me if I win or not.
Ya, cuz the casino would listen a customer complaint about “quick dealing” wherein the house takes advantage of a customer’s delayed move to take down winnings, from the betting area.
There was a time when casinos honored winners and paraded them around as free advertising, and it worked. Now if you win at all, they shut the table down and browbeat you. A blackjack shoe has over 6 decks now making card counting obsolete. Once, at the Resorts, I won about 5 blackjack hands in a row, for a total of about $150 and there were 6 people staring at me like I was a child killer.. Sheesh!
Is the casino giving back the money it won on the “unshuffled” decks as well? I doubt it.
It is possible that the cards WERE shuffled.
If you take two identical decks of cards, and shuffle each of them with the exact same pressure and speed, the end result will be the same. It could be that the shuffling machines are too perfect.
What a load! Anyone ever sit a blackjack table and get on a good shoe or two. Doesn't take too long before the pit boss starts switching dealers and everytime discarding a card out of the shoe. Sniveling, whining Losers!
Color me skeptical on the gamblers winning this one.
Does the Golden Nugget donate money to Democrats or Republicans?
If they donate to Democrats, they will win.
If they donate to Republicans, they will lose.
Is that their argument? "Your Honor, we assumed that the cards were already shuffled so we didn't bother shuffling them ourselves before dealing out hands...."
What in the world does "fair odds" mean? I know of no casino game where the house doesn't have some percentage of advantage on the odds (that's how they stay in business) - so if "fair odds" doesn't mean a 50/50 chance on every hand then what does it mean?
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