Gambler Sues Las Vegas Casino for Barring Him

Yahoo! News ^ | Mar 03, 2004 | Reuters

[yonif]

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A Los Angeles lawyer who claims he was thrown out of Las Vegas last year because he was too lucky has sued MGM Mirage in a bid to force the casino to warn prospective gamblers that they can be barred for winning too much.

Ernest Franseschi Jr., a frequent gambler, accused MGM officials of surreptitiously photographing him while he played blackjack at a high-stakes table at the chain's New York New York casino last March.

Franseschi claims casino officials circulated the photo to other Las Vegas casinos after he left the blackjack table with thousands of dollars in winnings.

When he returned about an hour later to resume playing, casino officials escorted him to the door and told him he was barred for life from MGM casinos.

Franseschi, who describes himself in the lawsuit as a "better than average blackjack player," said he was ejected from three other Vegas casinos on the same day within minutes of sitting down at the blackjack tables.

He sued MGM and its casinos in Los Angeles Superior Court for invasion of privacy, defamation and allegedly violating California's unfair business practices laws.

The lawsuit asks a judge to award Franseschi $74,000 and to force MGM to include a disclaimer on California advertising that reads, in part: "It is the policy and practice of MGM Mirage particularly to target skillful and/or winning players and bar such persons from gaming at our properties; only losing players and/or unskillful players ... are not subject to being targeted to be barred from MGM Mirage casino properties."

An MGM spokesman said the company was familiar with Franseschi and his lawsuit.

"This lawsuit has no merit and we are confident we will prevail," MGM Mirage spokesman Alan Feldman said. "We, like any other business, reserve the right to refuse service."

Franseschi, who plays blackjack as a hobby, said casino officials did not accuse him of cheating, but of counting cards to determine which had been played -- a practice that is not illegal.

"You don't even need to count cards. There are some obvious runs ... and it's patently obvious that there is nothing wrong with being able to figure that out," he said.

MGM Mirage, a top hotel and gaming company, owns and operates 14 casino resorts across the country and in Australia and the United Kingdom.

[barkeep]

Not surprising. Blackjack, being a closed end game is not difficult to win. The odds are the best of anything in a casino, and depending on the house rules on such things as double down can be as low as a 2% house edge. I am far from a high roller ($10 a hand), do not actually count cards, but give me the last seat at the table so the little blue haired lady doesn't take the king that would bust the dealer, and I can usually walk away with their money in my pocket. The new corporate owners still ain't learned what every carny game operator knows, you got to have a winner from time to time to keep the suckers coming in. This is not your father's Vegas anymore.

[stands2reason]

bump

[fourdeuce82d]

Not a gambler, so maybe this is a naive question...but what (legal) justification can the owners possibly have for barring someone who, without cheating, wins?

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over?

[Mr. Mojo]

Good question, and I'd like to know the same.

And it's quite difficult to count cards when there are 5 decks of cards to count, and most (if not all) the tables play with 5 decks these days.

[kcvl]

Debtor Ernest Franceschi, Jr., filed for chapter 7(1) relief on 21 February 1996. In his schedules, Franceschi, an attorney, listed as an asset his pending superior court lawsuit against a former client and others for their failure to honor his asserted lien claim on the settlement of the client's personal injury case. He received a chapter 7 discharge on 8 October 1996.

Franceschi continued to prosecute his lawsuit after the bankruptcy case was filed. Following a two-day bench trial in a California superior court in June 1996, the court determined that Franceschi did not have a valid lien for attorney fees because he had unjustifiably abandoned his client. The state court thereafter awarded sanctions of $31,000 to the defendants, plus costs of $3,875, pursuant to California Code of Civil Procedure § 128.5 ("Frivolous actions or delaying tactics"), finding that Franceschi's lawsuit was "without factual or legal merit" and that it had been prosecuted for "an improper or bad faith purpose" of hounding one of the defendants into bankruptcy. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judgment, 13 August 1996, Case No. NC 014983, at 4.

More...

[lelio]

said he was ejected from three other Vegas casinos on the same day within minutes of sitting down at the blackjack tables.

Minutes? It takes about 10 minutes to walk from one casino to the next. He must of had on some running shoes.

And come on: the casinos are making thousands of dollars per minute on the suckers in there. Why waste time trying to get rid of one person that might make $500 in a day?

[Bonaparte]

Franseschi sounds like a strange man. He is asking for a declaration from the casino to the effect that they turn away all "skillful or lucky" players. But there is no way he could know that. All he knows is that they don't want him in there. I also doubt that he was escorted out for merely counting cards. Those with the ability, do this all the time. It's something else that they don't like about him. Perhaps that he's a nutcase with a license to practice.

[Las Vegas Dave]

Several casinos have changed their payout on blackjack from (7 1/2 to 5) to (6 to 5) , stay away from these tables, you can't win!

[pseudo-ignatius]

The odds are the best of anything in a casino, and depending on the house rules on such things as double down can be as low as a 2% house edge.

Don't play at any tables where the house edge is 2%. That's as bad as craps. Most decent rules (6 decks, blackjack pays 3 to 2, double any two cards, double after splits, dealer stands on soft 17) yield only around a .5% advantage to the house *if* you know the optimal playing strategy for the particular rules. If you're playing a table with a 2% advantage to the house... find another table :).

[Citizen of the Savage Nation]

It is my understanding aside from sports betting and poker, and the odd progressive jackpot video poker, everything else in the casino is a losing proposition long term. The rest certainly is a losing proposition too, unless you're really good at it.

[Citizen of the Savage Nation]

Don't play at any tables where the house edge is 2%. That's as bad as craps.

Ah, not to forget craps. I think theoretically, it is possible to beat this game if you play the 100x odds tables, take the max odds on the pass and strictly play that bet only (or the dont pass) and then keep all the dealer mistakes in your favor while pointing out all the mistakes against you to get corrected. The house edge on 100x odds is almost 0%, so taking advantage of mistakes is supposed to swing that to your side.

Not one to try it though.

[Adder]

Ignorance speaking here...how do you know what the house odds are when you go to a table or casino?
How do you know how many decks the house uses...will they tell you if you ask?
I only dabble at blackjack tho I like the game and have learned the basics from casino type video games.

sign me: Future Vegas Sucker.
:]

[monkey]

I never thought of that. That's very clever.

[Cornelius Jay McGuyver]

Craps is all about money management.

Lay the table min on the pass line for the shooter to make point. Once a point is made, hit the top tier of hard doubles (4, 6, 8, 10), staying away from the bottom. Also, hit the come line each shoot.

And no matter what all else you do, have something laying on the 6 and 8.

Over the course of the night, you should come out a little ahead, but you have to be patient, and realize that you have quite a bit of cash out there on the table at any given moment - so pay attention.

Wishing you peace, love and free speech,

CJM

[SB00]

If you're mathematically inclined, you can calculate the "house advantage" for any casino table game when certain rules are used (e.g. 6 deck game, 8 deck game, etc). These should be on the internet too.

You can get the "house advantage" for video poker games by looking at the pay table. You cannot get the "house advantage" for slot machines, though the general rule is the higher the denomination the lower the house advantage. In some instances for slots the house advantage is negative (your advantage). This happens on very high limit slots and progressive jackpot slots when the jackpot gets high enough.

I think they will tell you how many decks they use for certain games and in a few instances they advertise it on the table.

[SB00]

Casinos usually say they have the right to refuse anyone entry on their premises.

In the case of card counters what usually happens instead of ejection is the dealers take countermeasures against the counter such as shuffling mid-deck, installing a betting ceiling, or telling the player they can play any other game except blackjack. I'm not sure why he would be barred unless something more serious happened.

[kjam22]

I think the guy has a case. It's like a restruant with an all you can eat buffet refusing to admit fat people.

[fish hawk]

If you really want to gamble, play the stockmarket, you can lose money without leaving your home!