LV gamblers sue over arrest on cheating charges

Grace Leong

Monday, Nov. 26, 2001 | 10:50 a.m.

Two gamblers have sued Park Place Entertainment Corp. and its Caesars Palace resort on the Las Vegas Strip, a local private investigation firm and the Nevada Gaming Control Board, alleging they were wrongfully accused of card-bending or cheating and were improperly arrested.

Michael Russo and James Grosjean also said they were named in the Griffin Book, which they call a "black book" listing notorious Las Vegas gamblers that's published and disseminated by Griffin Investigations Inc.

They sued Griffin, Park Place, the Gaming Control Board and two of its agents in Clark County District Court.

The plaintiffs, who said they were playing Three Card Poker at Caesars last April, said they legitimately won about $18,000 from Caesars because they were playing against a weak dealer.

The suit said the dealer "was exposing his cards such that persons sitting normally at the table could see the value and suit of the cards the dealer believed were being dealt face down."

The plaintiffs said they were detained by the Gaming Board agents and Caesars even though the hotel-casino's surveillance equipment allegedly detected no cheating.

Russo said he was detained because of false accusations by Griffin that he is part of a team of 21 cheaters who allegedly "takes advantage of weak dealers who expose their hole card, and are also believed to recruit dealers to expose their hole card and to flash the hit card to members of the team."

Russo said he was improperly held at the Clark County Detention Center for more than 12 hours, while Grosjean, who said he was jailed for more than four days, said they spent more than $23,000 in legal fees to defend themselves against the alleged false charges. They said the charges were dropped "without hearing, warning, (or) even apology."

The defendants could not be reached for comment on the lawsuit.