Watch Your Chips This Weekend

This year, in the space of two months we’ve had several big poker chip stories - the counterfeit chips introduced at the #BorgataWinterOpen2014 by @Christian Lusardi and later found clogging the pipes at his hotel, a couple who introduced fake chips at Maryland Live! Casino in Maryland, and the @Chan Pelton scandal at WSOP in Florida.

Unlike the occasional Las Vegas casino heists involving hundreds of thousands and even millions of dollars, this time it is all about a single chip. Moreover the thief in question stole it from himself.

The chip was of T25,000 denomination and the thief was the winner of a World Series of Poker No Limit Texas Hold’em event at the Palm Beach Kennel Club in South Florida. Confronted by casino staff who had checked the video surveillance, Chan returned the chip and explained he had wanted to keep it as a souvenir. Yet, he is suspected of intending to use it in the Main Event. Chan Pelton has since been stripped of his title, has forfeited the prize money, and has been banned fro Caesars properties.

Pelton is a seasoned poker player with about $250,000 in live tournament winnings. He told SouthFlorida.com, “I’m literally shell-shocked. This is my livelihood,” and is reportedly going to sue WSOP.

Chip thefts occur more often in movies than in real life. At least judging from what comes out in the media - though tweets such as this one: “Don't be naive. There's cheating in EVERY tourney!” seem to suggest otherwise.

In any case, casinos rarely take responsibility for missing chips so make sure you keep an eye on your bills and chips at all times. If you have to leave the table, count your stack before you leave and after you return. A post in a twoplustwo thread on the topic even recommends taking a picture of the stack with one’s phone. One easy precaution is to place the small denomination chips on top of the big ones (and we can only wish you lots of those :)

Borgata Event Prize Pool Still Frozen, Class Action Filed

A class action has been filed against the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in connection with the suspended event 1 in the Borgata Winter Open. Thousands may claim reimbursement for buy-ins and travel costs.

The opening event of  #BorgataWinterOpen2014  in Atlantic City had a $560 buy-in and a $2 million guarantee and had attracted more than 4,800 entries. The tournament was suspended on January 16, Day 3, by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement after counterfeit chips were found to be in circulation.

The only person charged to date is @Christian Lusardi, who introduced counterfeit chips into the tournament multiple times to increase his stack. He was eliminated on Day 2 and reportedly cashed for $6,814. A few days later he made funny criminal history as he was caught after he flushed the remaining fake chips ($ 2.7 million in tournament value) down the toilet of his hotel room. This caused plumbing problems, the chips were discovered, and the police promptly intervened.

Initially, Joe Lupo, Senior Vice President of Operations for Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, expected tournament officials and the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement to reach a resolution after a 24-hour investigation. Yet it has been more than a month and the prize money (of which more than $ 1.4 m remained on Day 3) is still frozen.

On Friday, February 21, New Jersey resident @Jacob Musterel filed a class action against the Borgata on behalf of the players who entered the opening event of the Borgata Winter Open. At the time of the suspension order only 27 players remained but it is very difficult to say how many may have been affected by the fake chips in circulation since Day 1. So far Musterel is the only one listed by name but his lawyer, Bruce LiCausi, has been publicising the claim and clearly hopes thousands will join to demand reimbursement for buy-ins and travel costs.

Little did they know that they were only in for the learning experience...

“In my 31 years in practice, I have to say this is one of the cleanest claims we’ve had,” Attorney Bruce LiCausi told The Press of Atlantic City. “Borgata holds itself as a respected provider of poker tournaments. They might say this is a learning experience for them, and while that’s laudable, it’s at the expense of the thousands who traveled to Atlantic City and entered this tournament under the expectation that it would be run properly.”