THIEF! The Gutsy, True Story of an Ex-Con Artist

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THIEF! character, Vince Eli

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Q & A Answer

Answer to yesterday's question:

Around 1980, the card room managers got together and standardized poker rules and procedures to keep stealing to a minimum. The Nevada Gaming Control Board did the rest.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Q & A Question

Q: Was gambling in Las Vegas poker rooms always on the up and up?

Answer in tomorrow's Mob Speak.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Numbers Way Down in U.S. Casinos

A friend told me about a Website called http://www.bj21.com/ that lists the current casino headlines from various sources around the country. Here's yesterday's report:

BJ21.com Newsletter

September 12, 2008

Presented as a public service by BJ21.com, the leading source of accurate information about casino games and conditions. Our free weekly newsletter archive contains back issues of our weekly newsletters.

Compiled by Al Rogers

Al@bj21.com
________________________________
Federal jury awards $729,000 to victim of patron abuse by Hollywood Casino in Tunica
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.

Case: US District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi, Delta Division -- Civil Action No. 2:06CV204P-A Grosch v. Tunica County et al.

Tribes refuse to accept state's minimum security guidelines for casinos -- Legal face-off looms as the commission plans to adopt rules
SACRAMENTO – Moving to the brink of a legal showdown, California gaming tribes yesterday overwhelmingly rejected a set of minimum security standards that the state wants to enforce in all Indian casinos.

Visitor numbers see largest fall since 2003
Las Vegas in July experienced its largest monthly decline in visitor traffic since the start of the Iraq war in March 2003, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reported today.

... Gaming revenue decline persists
Nevada's gaming win continued to spiral downward in July, with one gaming analyst on Wednesday calling the trend the worst since the early 1980s, when Nevada began tracking casino profits subject to taxes on a monthly basis.

Jersey casinos languishing
ATLANTIC CITY - This seaside gambling resort was counting on a strong August to help it avoid posting a record-breaking second straight year of declining revenues.

Tourism officials roll out new Laughlin ads
LAS VEGAS - In an attempt to ramp up business, southern Nevada tourism officials are rolling out a new ad campaign touting the small gambling hub of Laughlin.

Chairman's bill seeks to clarify Internet gambling ban
WASHINGTON - A new bill by the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee requires federal agencies to define unlawful Internet gambling so banks and other financial institutions can comply with the ban on online wagering.

Ex-slots worker charged with $650K theft
A Tucson man authorities say stole more than $650,000 from Desert Diamond Casino is facing theft and federal tax evasion charges, the U.S. Attorney's Office for Arizona said in a news release.

Measure may be jackpot for Colo. casinos
BLACK HAWK — The passage of a higher-stakes gambling ballot measure could bring millions of dollars in investments and a significant number of new jobs to Colorado, the chairman of one of the state's largest casino operators said Thursday.

Blackjack is whole new deal for Hard Rock
FLORIDA - Blackjack at the Hard Rock is attracting players from all over South Florida, including the casino's poker room.

Debt mounts for mall owner, but analysts optimistic
LAS VEGAS - Not long ago, a report in the Review-Journal's Business section suggested it may take divine intervention to rescue owners of the Fashion Show mall, Shoppes at Palazzo and Grand Canal Shoppes from a pending financial tsunami in the form of nearly $18 billion in debt coming due by 2011.

A tack to lay down tracks -- Monorail operators say route extension would help move tourists, but system seems headed for default
Operators of the Las Vegas Monorail are looking forward to an extension to McCarran International Airport even as the rail system's debt rating points toward default.

Ex-owners want to regain control of Tropicana casino
ATLANTIC CITY - The company that was stripped of its ownership of Tropicana Casino and Resort nine months ago will try to regain control of the troubled property now that it has restructured its management ranks and board of directors.

Casinos push poker tournaments to draw players
ATLANTIC CITY - Just how much the casinos here are wagering on table games for their survival is evident with the start of this month's Borgata Poker Open.

Coroner Names Woman Stabbed At Bally's -- Death Ruled Homicide
LAS VEGAS -- The coroner’s office has released the name of the woman who died from a stab wound to the neck in Bally’s Hotel-Casino lobby.

Casino Ordered To Pay After Machine Malfunction Excuse Loses In Court
Many casinos have been in the situation that Macon County, Alabama Greyhound Park was in back on May 2nd, 2006. A woman hit the jackpot on one of their machines, but was told by employees that the machine malfunctioned and that she would not be getting paid.

Strip Club Sees Delay In Casino Licensing -- Club's Location Not Suitable For Casino, Members Say
More investigations are needed before a Las Vegas topless club will receive a license to add slot machines, according to the Nevada Gaming Control Board.

Riviera claws at every expense -- Managers of aging property take drastic steps to cut costs, boost appeal
LAS VEGAS - When times are flush, managers think big: Budgets balloon, plans take shape and perks flow. When times are tough, as they are now for casinos on the Strip, they’re thinking small, combing budgets, reviewing expenses and trimming where they can.

Simpson jurors selected -- Panel consists of nine women, three men
LAS VEGAS - After four long days and a marathon court session into the night Thursday, a jury has been seated in the O.J. Simpson trial on armed robbery and kidnapping charges.