Here is where he bought the chips, apparently... a Chinese site.
http://sourcing.alibaba.com/quotatio...237096583.html
Date Quoted: 10/10/2013
Here is where he bought the chips, apparently... a Chinese site.
http://sourcing.alibaba.com/quotatio...237096583.html
Date Quoted: 10/10/2013
Your comparing Apples to Oranges Garrett. Some guy running a card game in Raleigh getting busted by the facist morality police in NC isnt the same thing as doing this shit.. The self-righteous bible thumpers in NC think people need saving from the vices of the world still sadly and put their own morality in place of peoples own right to self-determination.
So if he had all 5k chips which is sure sounds like that is the case then he had in total $3.5 million which is 160 he put in play and then flushed $2.7 million which is five racks plus 40 (540 total) down the toilet. It's hilarious that this guy is so careless because it's obvious the toilet will clog and the culprit will be traced with ease. Their are so many other ways for a cheat to get rid of these chips then this way. Even throwing them in a fast food bag and putting it in the garbage somewhere not near the hotel and casino would be wiser then this.
I'm curious if this guy felt the police were on to him and he panicked by flushing them or what? If the tournament was cancelled and he had all these chips what was his intent to register for the next one and if you don't succeed cheating the first time try again? I mean why even stick around New Jersey for the investigation? Staying is very ballsy so why not leave the state immediately? Men and goons would never do something this stupid putting such a large number of 160 fake chips into play in the same tournament.
It's only a few weeks into the year and we already got a top nominee for dumbest criminal act of the year.
I write things about poker at my Poker Blog and elsewhere on the Internets
The reason I believe they all were $5k chips is if a guy puts 160 different $5k fake chips into play it seems like it's his only denomination he has. If he had some 10k chips why not use those? The more fake ones in play draws a red flag even faster. A $5k denomination chip is good because they are used a lot in the mid and later stages of a tournament.
He might of had $5 million who knows but one thing is for sure this guy didn't think any of this through.
Probably stuck em in on Day 1 (he was a massive chip-leader) and was going to go with the 25K's on Day 2 or something. Be stupid to keep risking getting caught over 5k chips on Day 2, basically ante-chips by the end of the day --although I wouldn't call anything he did smart.
I write things about poker at my Poker Blog and elsewhere on the Internets
They played Day 2 out so he never went to sneak any bigger denominations in but that could be because he didn't have the chance and busted prior to being able to if that was his intent or that he just had the 5k chips.
He definitely brought most if not all of them in on Day 1 which he bagged up 519k. Since this is the Borgata and a preliminary event the coverage isn't great for it so I'm not sure what the next person had in chips except that actor James Woods had 410.5k after day 1 according to Pokernews live event updates.
This guy is probably a horrible poker player but since their was a $2k flight leader bonus if he added chips during breaks or whenever opportunity he could then have assured himself of earning four times his entry fee so with that bonus perhaps his intent was only to add chips on Day 1 and then know he had a great chance to cash on Day 2 so he might have been saving the rest of his chips for repeating the same process in other Borgata Winter Open events especially if they have that flight leader bonus knowing he's an awful player yet could still make money just winning that each time he could.
These are all just basic assumptions but it's hard to get into the mind of a crook to attempt to think what they are especially a horrible one.
Randy Dorfman @RandyDorfman 2m
Police raid gambling operation in Raleigh are they same people from @BorgataPoker #chipdump? http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?se...cal&id=8111724 …
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?se...cal&id=8111724
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- A search warrant made public Wednesday says police raided an illegal gambling operation in northeast Raleigh.
The warrant states investigators got a tip that a home at 4700 Marathon Lane had seven professional poker tables with seating for 63.
The officer who filed the warrant wrote that he had probably cause to suspect Cuong Tu Lee - AKA Johnny Lee - was sending out mass emails to a large group of people about attending games three days a week.
Officers raided the home on April 15 and seized three slot machines, poker tables, cards, and poker chips along with a long list of other items.
More than $40,000 in cash was also collected.
The warrant states players came to games on Sunday, Wednesday and Friday nights and a professional dealer was used.
Lee now faces gambling charges and a child abuse charge related to a minor being in a "gambling house."
Typical CNN botch/sensationalism in regards to this story:
If joe public non-gambler reads this story,
http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/26/justic...e-poker-chips/
They will get the impression that there were $2.7 million in "fake" U.S. dollar chips (with $800,000 among the genuine casino chips) as opposed to tournament dollar chips. Nowhere in this article is that distinction made.
I would love to be a fly on the wall in the room the attorneys are meeting in. SO many things to consider.
I would imagine they have a giant spreadsheet of all the possible scenarios, along with the monetary and legal implications. In addition, I can see attorneys for other casinos being very concerned of the outcome, as its implications could affect them.
If Borgata never paid anyone out, this could probably be easily solved. Everyone gets their money back, along with some goodwill credit for future play/food/etc. Minimal loss to the Borgata financially, minimal legal affect. BUT, they paid people out. They cant just ask everyone for their money back.
If this isnt handled properly, class action lawsuit occurs, more bad press, prolonged bad press, stock affected.
Tourney is CANCELLED, so people can stop with the suggestions of "let them play it out", "chip chop once you remove the counterfeit chips".
Im not sure if its worth the effort (if it can even be done) of looking at tape to see where the fake chips were introduced, when and at what time and then use that to credit people who were/could have been affected at those tables. This would be so complicated and probably impossible (also, minimal cameras anyway).
IMO, they should limit the risk of lawsuits, cancel the tourney, use the final 27 prize money to credit everyone back, offer something in a goodwill gesture (provided the act of doing so doesnt expose them to potential lawsuits) and make sure that those involved become an example to the world by getting a large jail term/penalty so that this act is viewed as something so severe that it will put the fear of god into anyone attempting it in the future. If the penalty isnt high enough, it puts ALL casinos at risk, and now the money that would need to be spent by all casinos is enormous and would cause costs to go up, which will end up costing the players more, because the casinos now need to cover their asses so cheating doesnt happen in their building.
I dont know what the legal issues would be here, but maybe paying out the final 27 in a way that they at least get 27th place money for their efforts, or some way to pay them gradually higher payments (but no where near what they would have been) would be nice, but the legal consequences could come into play. "Hey, you didnt pay me enough, Im suing"..."How did you come up with that amount, Im suing"...could happen.
Total mess. I would be surprised to see a quick outcome. They are going to take a loss on this, but they have to calculate the least expensive exposure to them and move accordingly. Every casino running a tourney is not only waiting with anticipation, they should be concerned with their own bottom lines and should also start changing their tourney rules immediately to account for things like this.
Remember this guy?......
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/nucl...chips-20417212
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/n...9bb2963f4.html
Poker players sue over fake chips in Borgata tourney
Posted: Saturday, February 22, 2014 1:52 am
By JENNIFER BOGDAN Staff Writer
Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa is facing a class-action lawsuit alleging improper supervision of a poker tournament canceled last month after $800,000 in forged tournament chips were found in play.
The lawsuit, led by Egg Harbor Township resident Jacob Musterel, is filed on behalf of more than 4,000 people who entered Event 1 in the Borgata Winter Poker Open at a $560 buy-in for a chance to win a portion of a “$2 million guarantee.”
Christian Lusardi, of Fayetteville, N.C., was arrested in January and charged with rigging the tournament. Police said they found him in an Atlantic City motel after he’d allegedly attempted to flush chips totaling $2.7 million in tournament currency down a toilet at Harrah’s and caused plumbing issues in the casino.
The investigation has remained open. The prize money has been frozen since the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement ordered the tournament suspended Jan. 16.
That’s left people such as Musterel, and others who likely traveled farther to Atlantic City, with their money in uncertainty, said Musterel’s Raritan-based attorney, Bruce LiCausi. The lawsuit filed in Atlantic County Superior Court alleges fraud and negligence on the part of Borgata and accuses the casino of failing to properly supervise the event.
The claim seeks refunds of the players’ buy-in money and entry fees as well as reimbursement for incidental damages, such as travel costs.
“In my 31 years in practice, I have to say this is one of the cleanest claims we’ve had,” LiCausi said. “Borgata holds itself as a respected provider of poker tournaments. They might say this is a learning experience for them, and while that’s laudable, it’s at the expense of the thousands who traveled to Atlantic City and entered this tournament under the expectation that it would be run properly.”
Borgata spokesman Brian Brennan said the casino does not comment on litigation and directed questions on the investigation to the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement.
Kerry Langan, a spokeswoman for the division, said the criminal investigation remains ongoing. A regulatory investigation is expected to be finished soon, she said. The suspension order issued by the division remains in place.
That order calls for all prize money to be held in escrow by the Borgata under further notice from the state. It also called for the casino to keep a record of all money paid out prior to the time the event was suspended. The tournament began Jan. 14. At the time play was stopped, 27 people remained.
The lawsuit alleges that Borgata had insufficient security and supervision. It claims that players noticed counterfeit chips and compromised play and informed staff, yet the event was not immediately shut down. The document also claims Borgata failed to count the chips on an ongoing basis and “acted negligently in permitting an utterly rigged gaming event to occur at their casino.”
“People went expecting a carefully supervised event. It’s time that Borgata work to resolve this,” LiCausi said.
Police have not said if anyone other than Lusardi may have been involved in the scheme. Documents filed in another federal case state that Lusardi made the fake chips with spray paint and shipped them to Harrah’s Resort in Atlantic City where he was staying.
Lusardi, 42, also had received packages from Hong Kong that were described as “plastic chips.” He allegedly hid the counterfeit chips in Borgata bathrooms. Once he discovered the casino found out about the chips, he panicked and flushed those that remained, he told authorities.
In a separate case, Lusardi was charged with copyright infringement after more than 37,500 illegal DVDs were found in his North Carolina home.
I wasn't a big proponent of this idea at first but I'm starting to believe that the borgata should have just refunded one buy in minus the rake and comped all players a night or two at the hotel. Chances are most people would have been satisfied and most of them would have just lost it back playing blackjack or craps or whatever so they wouldnt lose as much as you think
Here is the outcome:
http://www.nj.gov/oag/ge/2014news/Bo...FinalOrder.pdf
CLIFFS: They took $911k (63% of the remaining prizepool) away from the top 27 and redistributed it to people that busted.
I'm speechless.
LOL Borgata / NJ Gaming Commission. I'm sure this will be the 90 minute topic for the week tomorrow on PFA radio.
As long as Men The Master Nguyen got his share of the loot its all good.
When faced with a difficult decision, ask yourself "What would Micon do?", then do the opposite.
PFA Rookie of the Year Awards
2012: The Templar (unknown)
2013: Jasep $5000+
2015: Micon's gofundme legal defense $3k begging for 100k:
2018: 4Dragons
2019: Dutch Boyd: Mike Postle
2020: Covid19
2021: SMIFlorida and some sort of shit coins for $50k
2023: 22nd Feb 4th Dec Youtube channels removed
2024: Dustin Morgan wins Chrissy's $1000 contest: May 3rd another channel gone.
lol
Despite offshore companies scamming/stealing people's money/superusing, at least they would have paid out the whole prize pool to the 27 left, AND refunded people's entries.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)