Officials study firing, allegations of cheating at Canterbury card room

Thursday, Sept. 21, 2000 | 10 a.m.

The assertion is that the dealer was fired for not following procedures during a blackjack knock-off game called Minnesota 21. As in blackjack, when dealers in Minnesota 21 have an ace showing, they ask players if they'd like to buy "insurance" against the possibility that the dealer's facedown card is a 10 - equaling 21.

A player who buys insurance can be protected against a loss should the dealer get a blackjack. The dealer then checks the face-down card.

But the fired dealer appeared to be checking his face-down card first, then offering insurance to players, officials said.

"And the people seemed to be taking insurance when he had a blackjack" and not taking insurance as often when he didn't, Canterbury president Randy Sampson said. That led surveillance officers to suspect that the dealer might be signaling players.

After watching the routine for a while, Canterbury dismissed the dealer for not following proper game procedures.

"It's a difficult issue to prove whether a guy had an intent to cheat or just made a mistake," Sampson said.

Canterbury turned the matter over to the state gambling division for investigation. The dealer has not been arrested, and no charges have been filed.

Regardless of whether it was accidental, the "insurance" incident and other episodes helped prompt commissioners Wednesday to ask Canterbury to take action they hope will protect the card club from collusion.

The commission also heard from staff investigators about six players allegedly caught cheating at pai gow poker since the club opened in April. Three people have been charged with misdemeanors. The cases are not related to each other or to dealers, officials said.

Commissioners want to bar off-duty dealers from playing California games, also known as Asian games. And some commissioners favored banning the common casino-industry practice of "tip betting," in which a player agrees in advance to pay a tip to a dealer when his hand is successful.