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Long-time Las Vegas-based advantage player, casino critic, and frequent Blackjack Insider contributor LVBear offers his opinions on things that sometimes go wrong in the world of casinos.  Current and past growls can be read, and comments posted, at LVBear's website, TheBearGrowls.com.

Federal Jury Awards $729,000 to Victim of Patron Abuse

A federal jury returned a verdict totaling over $729,000 in a case involving the abuse of a patron by security personnel at Tunica’s Hollywood Casino and a deputy of the Tunica County Sheriff’s office.

The victim, who was suspected of counting cards, a lawful activity, but not suspected of any illegal activity, was wrongfully detained by Hollywood Casino employees, who instructed cashiers to refuse to cash the victim’s chips unless the victim provided them with his identification.

The victim refused to do so and asked to be paid so that he could leave the casino.  Instead, casino employees called the Sheriff’s department.  Deputy Dornae Mosby responded and demanded identification from the victim, who complied with the deputy’s request but instructed the deputy not to show the identification to casino personnel.  The deputy ignored this instruction, and allowed casino personnel to take possession of the victim’s identification and photocopy it, despite there being no legal basis for so doing.  The victim was arrested by Mosby for disorderly conduct.  The charge was subsequently dismissed.

The victim sued Hollywood casino, Tunica County, and Deputy Mosby.  The jury awarded him $25,000 from Deputy Mosby individually for the violation of his Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights to be free of unreasonable searches and seizures.  The jury found the casino liable for false arrest, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution, abuse of process, conversion, and trespass to chattels.  The final two items involve the wrongful taking of plaintiff’s identification by casino personnel.  The jury awarded $103,703 in damages to the victim from the casino, plus punitive damages of $600,550.

At many Laughlin casinos, at least half the pit was closed on a recent Saturday evening. Dealers are complaining about working only two days a week. Two casinos have lowered most table limits to a puny $100. Games throughout town are now mostly garbage, except for the Riverside, which is holding steady. The Riverside, the last place in Laughlin to offer decent value to average patrons as well as to brain-using patrons, appears to have the most customers by far. Imagine that.

Laughlin was built as a "good value" alternative to Las Vegas. It has forgotten the reason for its existence and former popularity, except Riverside. There is no good reason to patronize most of the other places, which have become outright burn joints. Golden Nugget dealers now suffer from shuffling disease, rivaling the dump next door, Pioneer. Edgewater and Colorado Belle’s games are so awful I felt like I should take a shower after walking through there. Both have converted their double decks to 6 to 5 ripoff. Tropicana is scared of its own shadow. River Palms is worthless. Harrah’s is, well, Harrah’s not much more to add. Aquarius might accidentally offer a playable game here and there, but is profusely sweaty, and certainly not worth a trip to Laughlin. Avi is now a joke, with $100 maximums and hardly any customers. Routine maintenance appears to have been deferred, probably as a cost-cutting measure.

Laughlin used to be my favorite casino locale. Now, with the notable exception of the Riverside, the whole place could slide into the Colorado River and it would be no loss. Sad. RIP, Laughlin.

According to this news story, a dealer at the Cal-Neva, a nasty low-roller dump in downtown Reno, is accused of stealing nine dollars from the casino.  I am certainly not condoning theft, but let's keep it in perspective. If an average citizen accused another average citizen of stealing nine dollars, the police would probably laugh and not even take a report. But because a casino is the victim, no public expense is spared. What a ridiculous waste of public resources. Assuming they are guilty, the crooked dealers should be fired, but involving a public agency in something so petty? Come on, be serious. The Gaming Control Board should have higher priorities, like protecting PATRONS from casino wrongdoing.  The Venetian cheaters got away scot-free, but their employer was fined a million dollars.  What they did was far worse than what these low-level employees in Reno are accused of doing.  Why the difference in enforcement action taken?  And why doesn't the board go after the thugs who have committed violent crimes against patrons? Oh, I see.  When casino thugs assault patrons, the casino is not the victim, so the crimes are ignored.  But for nine dollars allegedly stolen from Cal-Neva, thousands of taxpayer dollars will be wasted.  The Gaming Control Board should be ashamed of itself.