Appeals Court Says Payouts From Canceled Borgata Poker Tournament Were FairJudge Upholds State's Decision On How To Repay Victims |
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A panel of three judges on Monday said that the state’s payouts from a tainted 2014 poker tournament at Atlantic City’s Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa were fair, according to a report from Press of Atlantic City.
When there were 27 players remaining, tournament staff and police discovered that Christian Lusardi had introduced phony chips into the event. The tournament was suspended and later canceled. The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement eventually decided to pay the remaining players $19,323 each, which was a little better than 10th-place money. Twenty-seventh place was set to earn $8,140. The top prize was $372,123.
The $500+$60 buy-in was also refunded to 2,143 players. A total of 4,814 entered.
According to the report, the DGE director later ordered Borgata to pay a total of $50,893 to each of the final 27, which was roughly the amount of splitting the remaining prize money equally. The nearly $290,000 in rake Borgata collected was part of the refund to affected players.
Players reportedly argued that the payout decision was arbitrary.
The poker players also argued their due process rights were violated by regulators not holding a hearing on the matter. The panel disagreed with the argument.
“The Director [David Rebuck] reasonably chose to ensure that every entrant possibly affected by Lusardi’s illegal conduct got their entry fee back, that prize winners kept their prizes and that the remaining 27 players shared equally in the remaining funds without unfairly penalizing any,” the judges wrote in their decision.
Lusardi, who made a small cash in the tournament, was sentenced to five years in prison late last year after admitting to counterfeiting and criminal mischief.
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