Atlantic City’s Borgata Casino will redistribute competition winnings following a major chip-cheating scandal that rocked the Borgata Winter Poker Open in January. (Image: ac2lv.com)
This new Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) has already reached a quality regarding the Borgata Winter Poker Open chips that are counterfeit at last. The tournament was suspended on January eighteenth, and subsequently cancelled, after the revelation that the poker that is fake had been introduced.
The DGE certainly had their work cut out in reaching an equitable solution to a really sticky issue: 888 casino self exclusion when play had been stopped, there were 27 players left of 4,824 initial entrants in the $500 + 60 NLH Big Stack event, which had a guaranteed prize pool of $2 million. A one-time chip leader named Christian Lusardi, actually busted on Day 2 for $6,814, it wasn’t simply a matter of confiscating his ill-gotten winnings and paying the bubble boy while the perpetrator of the scam.
Ripple Impact
Detectives had to determine which players among this huge field could be believed to have been adversely afflicted with the cheating and discover a fair way to distribute an overall total of $1,721,805 to those that deserved it. That includes $1,433,145 in prize money, as well as $288,720 the Borgata collected in registration costs. This also meant trying to quantify the intangible ‘ripple effect’ that Lusardi’s scam could have caused; a almost impossible task.
The DGE decided that 2143 entrants whom failed to cash were entitled for their money back (buy-in plus reg fee). These included all players who played on Day 1a from 10am, apart from people who started in the Event Center and were eliminated before 4:30pm, once the latter group could not have come into contact with Lusardi. From 10am are also eligible, apart from those who played in the Signature Room and Poker Room since it was a reentry tournament, Lusardi was also playing on Day 1b, having busted Day 1a, and thus all players who played that day. Meanwhile, the $50,893 in prizes owed to players who busted in the cash shall be paid as planned, while the remaining 27 players still ‘in’ will chop the others for $19,323 each.
The Borgata may still have a headache to contend with while this would appear to be the fairest solution given the circumstances. In February, a lawsuit that is class-action filed by brand New Jersey attorney Bruce Li Causi on behalf of one of the players, Jacob Mustere. The lawsuit claimed that players should be liable to damages as well as refunds. At the time of writing, it isn’t known whether Causi’s customer is content with the settlement that is current.
Money Down the Can
Meanwhile, Lusardi stays in jail in brand New Jersey on $300,000 relationship, waiting for trial. He was arrested after attempting to flush 2.7 million in fake tournament chips down the toilet of his college accommodation at the nearby Harrah’s Resort. This triggered the pipes becoming clogged, which caused water to drip down into the available spaces of guests on to the floor below. He can be faced with running a large-scale DVD that is pirate from his North Carolina home that allegedly grossed over $1 million.
The Borgata has since introduced new high-tech poker potato chips that are more intricately designed, making them harder to counterfeit, and that can be examined under ultraviolet light.
Everett May Purchase Land for Wynn Casino
Will the town of Everett buy this web site of the former Monsanto chemical plant for Wynn Everett? Mayor Carlo DeMaria hopes so. (Image: wcvb.com)
It appears that every time an obstacle emerges for starters of the proposed Massachusetts casino plans, someone or something measures up to provide a solution. Then when there were questions regarding who would take advantage of the sale of land Wynn Resorts would use to host their Everett casino, possibly we should have expected an answer to present it self before too long.
Eminent Domain Buy Considered
In this instance, the city of Everett it self may fundamentally get the property before offering it to Wynn, sidestepping the murky situation that currently surrounds the land sale. The town would use their power of eminent domain to choose the land along with seven other properties in the area for a total cost of about $41 million. The land necessary for the casino could then be offered to Wynn from the city.
According to Mayor Carlo DeMaria, this move wouldn’t be solely for the power of Steve Wynn and the possible casino resort he would like to build. Instead, this is a plan that has been in development before anyone considered gambling that is bringing the town.
‘This area, as you are well aware, is critical to the future success associated with entire city and will serve being a gateway to your entire region,’ DeMaria wrote in a letter to Everett city councilors last week. ‘My administration is committed to realizing the extraordinary potential of this area and the city as a whole.’
Controversy Over Secret Partners
While the city may be willing to choose the land so as to produce it, that wasn’t the initial proposal Wynn had been banking on. They had planned to purchase the land for $35 million, presuming that the Massachusetts Gaming Commission was to approve their casino plan.
As we recently reported, the controversy throughout the land began after payment investigators found that the current owners of the property FBT Everett Realty could be lying about the involvement of Charles Lightbody, one of the partners that are original. Lightbody, a convicted felon, claimed to own sold off his interest in the property way back when, despite having put up $1 million of this original $8 million purchase price last year.
That could happen resolved if the other owners had pledged that the property sale wouldn’t benefit any unknown, secret lovers. By Anthony Gattineri has refused to sign such a pledge, fueling speculation that Lightbody may have a pastime. And since the commission has required the statements become signed in order to approve Wynn’s license, the sale has been put by it in concern.
A Public Purpose?
The question of whether or not the town of Everett could possibly get surrounding this problem with the use of eminent domain might be tricky. The city can only take private land if doing so serves a public purpose under state law. Mayor DeMaria claims the land is good for redevelopment and that the city would spend tens of millions to upgrade the area after the purchase.
But maybe not most people are convinced that anyone would develop the area if Wynn doesn’t obtain the casino license. City Council president Michael Marchese states he looks at the proposal as nothing less than a favor to Wynn.
‘We haven’t possessed a developer here in over 20 years,’ Marchese said. ‘We only understand just what we hear, and what we hear we don’t trust.’
Illinois Rep Bob Rita OffersTwo Plans for Chicago Casino Expansion
Will Illinois legislators approve either of Rep. Bob Rita’s land gaming proposals? The jury’s still out. (Image: chicagotribune.com)
You can imagine precisely how lucrative a massive casino placed in Chicago could become. It’s been a dream of many for decades now, though never ever one that has come anywhere near fruition. Now, one lawmaker has placed two proposals for such a casino before an Illinois House committee though the odds of either ultimately passing into legislation are slim at most readily useful.
Two Plans, One Guy
Representative Bob Rita (D-Blue Island) has put together two versions of a plan that would bring casino gambling to Chicago. In the very first version, designed to appease as much interest groups as you possibly can, five new casinos would be authorized. That would add a Chicago casino with up to 4,000 games, along with smaller casinos in Rockford, Danville, Lake County and another suburb towards the south of Chicago. It could also give racetracks the right to host a varying number of slot machines, up to 600 for locations in Cook County.
But that’s not the plan that received the attention of the Illinois home. It’s an alternative Rita-backed plan one that would approve only an individual casino with up to 10,000 games in Chicago that promised to cause plenty of heated arguments on both sides of the problem.
Chicago vs. Downstate Illinois
Rita is hoping that by talking to lawmakers, he can convince them that a massive Chicago casino will benefit the entire state. His plan would see half of all revenues from the casino that is proposed projects through the entire state.
‘It’s part of the process of moving this forward,’ Rita said before the hearing. ‘ We have never had a full in-depth conversation or a hearing of the Chicago-only option.’
The plan that is single-venue well-liked by the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, which said during the hearing that they would like a casino in the central area of downtown Chicago. Governor Pat Quinn has also recommended that this version of the bill is more prone to earn his support than previous bills which he has vetoed.
But politicians through the rest of the continuing state are predictably dubious of any plan that would expand gambling only in the city.
‘The purpose [of gambling expansion] was to help communities that are economically distressed’ said state Representative Chad Hays (R-Catlin). ‘ I would suggest that downstate taking the leftover crumbs from Chicago is just a laughable assertion that no downstater would bite on.’
A Term from the Mayor
Danville Mayor Scott Eisenhauer also weighed in against A chicago-only plan.
‘The opportunity to add downstate job creation and revenue growth far outweighs some great benefits of a license that is chicago-only’ said Eisenhauer, who also planned to wait the hearings.
Representatives from social groups spoke at the hearings to say that they were concerned about the impact a casino that is massive have on the state. Meanwhile, other casinos worried that a large location in Chicago would harm their businesses. And the horse industry that is racing both the single-casino and broader expansion plans, while they want much more slots available at their tracks.
With so much opposition from across the state, numerous lawmakers believe only a wider gambling bill has any chance of success.