Wednesday, May 19, 1999 | 1:56 a.m.
A dispute over the refusal by Binion's Horseshoe hotel-casino to cash questionable $5,000 chips that have surfaced in recent months apparently is going to be decided by the Gaming Control Board -- not the courts.
A District Court lawsuit was dropped this week because of the ongoing administrative process, said attorney John Moran, who represents the Horseshoe.
The lawsuit was filed over the reluctance of the Horseshoe to cash a $5,000 chip flamboyant gamer Bob Stupak donated to the church of the Rev. Thomas Grey, who heads the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling.
The lawsuit was used in an attempt to discredit Nevada's regulatory system in the eyes of the National Gambling Impact Study Commission. The legal action alleged that attempts to cash the chip in November were rebuffed by Horseshoe executives after it was revealed that the chip came from Stupak.
A second lawsuit, filed by Stupak, also challenged the casino's refusal to cash other chips he presented, but Moran said the legal actions were premature because of the Gaming Control hearings this summer that could resolve the issues.
"Gaming Control is the proper forum," Moran said, noting there are "some serious questions about the source and manner that (Stupak and Grey) came into possession of the chip and we want to explore those questions."
Once Gaming Control makes its decision, the parties are free to re-file their lawsuits if they are not happy with the administrative outcome.
Former City Councilman Steve Miller, who was working with Grey, said in November that the intent of the lawsuit is to show that Nevada's gaming regulatory system is not the model of efficiency being touted by former Gaming Board Chairman Bill Bible.
Stupak's rebuffed attempts to cash $5,000 chips at the Horseshoe last year not only resulted in his own lawsuit but in his being permanently tossed out of the casino where he said he has gambled heavily for decades -- and won big.
archive
