Day trading exec sues over dispute at Hard Rock casino

Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2000 | 11:20 a.m.

A Hard Rock hotel-casino patron is taking legal action in hopes of reversing a decision by the Nevada Gaming Control Board to deny his request to be paid $17,000 he claims he won at a craps game.

Robert Bright, owner of the stock and securities day-trading business Bright Trading, said Hard Rock paid him only $2,000 of $19,000 he allegedly won in June because it claimed there was a $1,000 limit at the craps table.

Bright, who owns 37 day-trading offices nationwide, filed a petition for judicial review Friday in Clark County District Court to force the Nevada Gaming Control Board to consider the affidavit of a witness, Jeff Hawkins of Kansas City, Mo.

Bright, who said three other witnesses confirmed there was no posted limit at the table at the time of his bet, said the board's refusal to accept Hawkins' affidavit because it was "submitted one day late and not in proper form" was "too harsh for such a minor infraction."

Bright said Hard Rock, despite his request, allegedly failed to preserve a videotape showing his gambling. He also seeks an order to force the board to consider "the adverse presumption against Hard Rock ... for destruction of the videotape evidence."

He said "such evidence would have shown that after the disputed event, Hard Rock posted signs to limit the amount that could be wagered at the table."

Officials with the defendants in the lawsuit, the Gaming Board and the Hard Rock, could not be reached for comment on the allegations.