Report: Scandal at Aria Poker Room, tips stolen/skimmed, tournament director terminated

DISCLAIMER: This is an UNCONFIRMED REPORT, but I've received it from two separate parties. I have also seen further cryptic discussion about the matter on Facebook, from again unrelated parties. There is likely at least something to this....

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Source #1:

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A bunch of Aria Tournament people got let go for theft. I think two tournament directors, maybe more.

The rumor is that when they paid people for cashing in tournaments, they did it in a room with no witnesses. Tokes were never recorded, and they pocketed or skimmed from the cash tips.

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Source #2 (unrelated to source #1):

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The Aria poker tournament director was fired a week or so ago under suspicion of theft.

Many of the dealers from the WPT 500 have not received their envelopes for almost a month

Rumor is that there was skimming involved.

The investigation turn into a ratfest, with people trying to save their own skin or take some down with them.

The tournament director was a high limit player from the Bellagio that had no experience...but was friends with the head of the poker room. Somehow he has been let go but the guy in charge that hired him and was probably in cahoots with him on the skim remains unscathed.

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We attempted to call the Aria and ask them about this during tonight's radio show. They were very evasive and wouldn't answer anything, but it was clear that SOMETHING had gone on, and they were afraid to talk about it.


Developing...

Quote:

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A bunch of Aria Tournament people got let go for theft. I think two tournament directors, maybe more.

The rumor is that when they paid people for cashing in tournaments, they did it in a room with no witnesses. Tokes were never recorded, and they pocketed or skimmed from the cash tips.

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When I shipped a $125 tourney at Aria last year, they did take me to an enclosed room near the poker area, where a cashier gave me chips for the amount I won, and then the TD would instruct me to place my tokes in a chip tray. The cashier did not witness the tokes I placed into the tray.

They just had the WPT500, and a shit ton of ppl cash in that thing because it has like 15 day 1s.

That money probably got set on fire lol

A number of people close to the situation have come to me to give me further information about this.

I will be releasing this information as I am given permission to do so.

Here are a few more tidbits:

- There were several firings from the Aria poker room TONIGHT

- The "general manager" of the poker room resigned. However, apparently this was over a completely different matter, and was unrelated to the thefts. This general manager was said to not have been involved with the thefts, and the timing of his resignation seems to have been an unfortunate coincidence.

- The tournament director WAS involved with the thefts, and he was fired.

- There have been no arrests at this time, but they are still trying to sort everything out.

This is from a lurker on 2+2:

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I've been a regular at Aria since its opening and have gathered some information via table chatter. I mostly don't post here because I think you're all a bunch of nerds and you're ruining poker--kidding!*--but I also feel sunlight is the best disinfectant, and the current situation could use some.

Everything below is second-hand and should not be considered authoritative, though I believe it is correct.

A couple weeks ago two tourney directors were caught stealing from other employees. I presume the guesses in this thread about tips being diverted are correct. Yes, Aaron was one of the two.

On their way out the door, Aaron and/or the other guy decided to say, "Yeah, well what about this and this and this?"...indicating indiscretions with respect to comps and the people who issue them.

Apparently this led to scrutiny of comp abuses on all levels, some of which were on the level of a player being several dollars short and the floor comping the whole meal as a courtesy. I myself have benefited from such a courtesy.

Whoever was doing the investigating seems to have taken a scorched earth approach, running off a massive portion of supervisor-level staff and their underlings.

There are suddenly new safeguards for comp issuance, such that a player now must present ID and player's card for every transaction, and only the shift supervisor may issue it. Previously, any lowly chip runner could deduct comps from any seated player's account, holding the card or not. The opportunity for abuse/theft seemed obvious all along, and I suspect some amount of unauthorized use and/or theft is at play.

I cannot speak to each individual case, but I will say that Leon Wheeler, who is one of the departed, is hands down the best floorperson I have encountered in my life. Fairness, diligence, professionalism, you name it. Yes, I saw Leon extend minor courtesies with comps--nothing even close to unscrupulous in my opinion. I would entrust any amount of money to him without thinking twice.

Although I know relatively little, the fact that Leon is involved makes me suspect that at least some people are getting unfairly and brutally fucked. Whoever hires Leon next is getting a bargain at any price.

There is some speculation that lavish over-comping is a factor. If this is true, it would seem mostly to involve the ridiculous comps that roll into the Ivey Room on a nightly basis. That is the game where the president of Aria occupies a seat, and he certainly understands if not openly encourages the comping routine. In any case, he is 100% the beneficiary of the floorpeople keeping the whales happy, probably to the tune of an amount of money that makes annual floor salaries look like a joke.

If the speculation re: over-comping is at all correct, it's disgusting and embarrassing that it's the wage-earning floor staff walking the plank.

Good luck to Leon, and any other honest people who got caught in the crossfire.

As for the tournament thieves, it would be nice if these dipshits got prosecuted for once, rather than popping up in another casino six months later--as is Vegas tradition.

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The above is mostly correct.

Leon is the guy who resigned over a matter unrelated to the thefts.

From what I am hearing, he was NOT involved in any of the stealing.

P5 story:

http://www.pocketfives.com/articles/...r-room-591143/

Fmr Aria TD's twitter FWIW

http://www.twitter.com/Hey_TD