Horseshoe’s big cash-in of chips comes to quiet end

Thursday, Jan. 14, 1999 | 11:01 a.m.

The deadline for redeeming discontinued $5,000 chips at the Horseshoe Club passed at midnight Wednesday without incident.

Horseshoe Club President Becky Behnen told the Sun today that she still has concerns that some chips have been counterfeited because more came back than were manufactured for the downtown casino.

But overall, Behnen said, the cashing-in process went smoothly.

Since July, when the Horseshoe announced it was calling in the worn-out chips, $10 million to $12 million worth have been redeemed, Behnen said.

The Horseshoe has refused to cash more than $1 million more, including $250,000 from former casino boss Bob Stupak, because it can't verify that the chips were won or purchased there.

Stupak, former chairman of the Stratosphere and a well-known poker player, has filed suit against the Horseshoe for failing to redeem his chips, and he has lodged a complaint with the state Gaming Control Board.

"To have only around a million in dispute I'd say is very good," Behnen said.

A new high-tech chip is being designed, Behnen added, but it won't be put into play until the end of April when the famed World Series of Poker begins.

The Horseshoe last month appealed a decision by the Control Board ordering the casino to cash Stupak's old chips. In the appeal, the Horseshoe suggested that some of his chips could have been counterfeit.

Horseshoe lawyer Marc Cook said casino records showed there were about $800,000 more chips on the street than there should be.

But Keith Copher, the Control Board's chief of enforcement, refuted that claim today.

"At this point in time, it does not appear that the ($1 million-plus) amount in dispute is in excess of the outstanding amount of chips," Copher said. "It looks like it's going to balance out."

Copher said five people, including Stupak, have filed complaints with the board against the Horseshoe.

He would not identify the others. But casino sources said one is a well-known poker player who recently tried unsuccessfully to redeem about $800,000 in chips.

Most of the records the Horseshoe is relying upon were maintained by Behnen's brother, Jack Binion, the casino's longtime president. Binion sold his interests to his sister in July following a bitter family battle for control of the casino.

In its decision ordering the Horseshoe to cash Stupak's chips, the Control Board described Stupak as a "longtime, well-recognized patron of the Horseshoe Club."

But another Horseshoe lawyer, George Kelesis, later said the casino's records show that Stupak only has a total play of $13,000 in table games there.

Stupak has contended he obtained his chips "through legitimate recorded transactions" at the Horseshoe.

The Control Board has yet to schedule a hearing on the case.