Casino dealer spit in face, slurred by gambler

Monday, Oct. 9, 2000 | 9:31 a.m.

Warren Graham, 49, said he was told by his Fitzgeralds Casino-Hotel supervisors that the man couldn't be detained because no staff witnessed the incident and no surveillance cameras captured it.

"In my 20 years of dealing, I've never even come close to having this happen," Graham, a Fitzgeralds employee for the last 9 1/2 years, told the Reno Gazette-Journal.

Fitzgeralds spokesman Steve Trounday said the Sept. 23 incident at Graham's blackjack table was regrettable.

But he said the gambler could not be legally detained because such a misdemeanor incident requires staff to have witnessed it or the victim to ask for an arrest.

The man was asked by security to go to Fitzgeralds' detention room, but soon walked out. With the dealer not there yet and no staff witnesses, there was nothing the casino could legally do, Trounday said.

"It's terrible, it's awful, it's a tragedy," he told the Reno Gazette-Journal. "Unfortunately, our hands are tied. It's unfortunate for us and it's unfortunate for the dealer."

Graham said he was spit in the face three times by the gambler after he told the player that he could not have any more to drink.

"I was informed I was just a 'n' and I had nothing to say about it," Graham said. "I said I do and he spit in my face."

He described the gambler as a large "biker" in town for the Street Vibrations motorcycle festival.

Graham threw two drinks in the gambler's face after being spit at by him.