Binion’s Horseshoe ordered to pay $1.225 million

Tuesday, March 16, 1999 | 8:42 a.m.

But the Horseshoe has appealed two of the rulings and is expected to do so for the third, likely leading to hearings before the control board.

"The three are all players at the casino...and they have been in possession of the chips," said Keith Copher, chief of the control board's Enforcement Division. "There's nothing to indicate that they obtained them inappropriately."

The $5,000 chips were at the center of a controversy late last year when new Horseshoe owner Becky Behnen declined to redeem millions of dollars worth of gambling tokens. She contended the property's previous ownership, which included her brother, Jack Binion, either failed to maintain adequate records of the chips in circulation or was the victim of a counterfeit scheme.

Following the Sept. 17 death of Behnen's brother, Ted Binion, Horseshoe executives feared that acquaintances of the late casino executive may have taken chips from his estate.

The control board has ordered the Horseshoe to pay:

-$865,000 to San Diego poker player Hamid Dastmalchi.

-$110,000 to Wayman Roger Moore, a Georgia poker player.

-$250,000 to Las Vegas gambler Bob Stupak, the developer of the Stratosphere hotel, casino and tower. Stupak sparked news last year when he sought to redeem his $5,000 chips. A Binion's executive refused to accept them.

Horseshoe executives argue that Stupak did not win the gambling tokens at their casino but received them from other gamblers. According to a Nevada gambling regulation, a gambler cannot redeem chips won by another person.