Lawsuit over Fake Chips at Borgata Poker Tournament Thrown Out

A judge rules against gamblers who sued the Borgata over a man in a poker tournament found to have counterfeit chips.

A lawsuit over fake poker chips at a Borgata poker tournament in Atlantic City has been dismissed by a state court. Lawyers say they’ll appeal.

The lawsuit stems from an odd incident surrounding the Borgata Winter Poker Open tournament earlier this year. A gambler staying at nearby Harrah’s had snuck counterfeit chips into the tournament, and thought Borgata officials were on to him. So, police say, he flushed them down the toilet. His scam was discovered when pipes in Harrah’s began to leak from being clogged with $2.7 million in fake poker chips. (In a subplot to this already-weird tale, alleged chip counterfeiter Christian Lusardi has is also accused of possessing 37,000 bootleg DVDs.)

The tournament was canceled, and earlier this year gamblers sued. Yesterday, a judge dismissed it.

The lawsuit accused the Borgata of negligently running the tournament without proper video surveillance to catch possible cheaters. Atlantic County Superior Court Judge James ruled the poker tournament is under the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement. The DGE previously ruled the Borgata complied with all regulations in running the tournament.

“The Borgata has yet to come forward and explain … why it operated a poker tournament in such a shoddy and horrendous fashion,” attorney Maurice VerStanding said said. “The Borgata botched a poker tournament to an epic degree and it hasn’t cost them so much as a penny.” (Oddly enough, VerStanding wrote in February that such a lawsuit was unlikely to succeed. I guess he changed his mind!)

[Press of Atlantic City]