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StumblePlanet Hollywood poker scam nets arrests of four supervisors
Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2009 | 12:03 p.m.
UPDATE: Police: Planet Hollywood supervisors netted $2,201 in scam
Four Las Vegas Strip resort casino supervisors and managers have been charged in an alleged plot to take phony jackpot payoffs.
Nevada State Gaming Control Board investigators uncovered the scam at Planet Hollywood after months of investigation, said David Salas, deputy enforcement officer for the board.
Losses to Planet Hollywood are "in the thousands of dollars," and the investigation is continuing, Salas said.
The four men worked in Planet Hollywood's poker room, where "high hand" jackpots sweetened the payouts on 26 different hands, Salas said. If a person got one of those 26 hands, the player was to get a higher payment. But investigators said the four supervisors allegedly filled out false paperwork documenting that players had "high hands" when they didn't -- then they kept the additional money that would have gone to the card player.
It took three levels of documentation for the resort to pay a player for the special hands, Salas said. "These four were working in concert to generate false documents to embezzle their employer," Salas said.
Jonathan Sanner, Jason Peterson, Thomas R. Kordick, all of Las Vegas, and Scott Marshall of Henderson were arrested Aug. 21 by Gaming Control Board officers, Salas said.
The four are charged with crimes including forgery, embezzlement and conspiracy.
The Gaming Control Board began an investigation after another employee caught on to the scam and became suspicious.
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So much for playing there anymore. What is the employees thinking? do it once ok but they got greedy..
first Prive gets shut down for prostitution and drug use and now the PH poker room is corrupt. you can't buy that kind of bad advertising...... the board should replace every manager from the top to the bottom........
I may be mistaken but I thought the jackpot money was taken from each pot on all games to fund these jackpots, If this is correct then the money stolen was from the player's and not the casino.
That is the reason why the casino's can't keep it beacuse they were doing the same thing by claiming the promotion was changed. And they would keep it until the player's won in a law suit that it was not casino money.
Doesn't this make you reminise for the good ole days. It was so much simpler then. Just a walk in the desert.
Actually, it could of happened at any casino. They're going to get what they have coming to them.
US Senator with no morals, Casino Supervisors stealing from Casinos, prostitution rampant, drugs everywhere, Ms. Nevada 2006 scamming the public, open drugs and sex in clubs along the Strip, stabbings, beatings and murders along the strip and we blame the economy for Las Vegas' ills...
I know, I know... Somebody is going to talk about "freedoms" and how "this is what you expect when you come to Las Vegas, its an adult playground".
You know what? I absolutely agree. That is what people expect and that is why people are not coming the way they used to... at least in part. It's not all the economy.
Wouldn't surprise me at all if they're also doing this in other casinos. Sounds like a simple method to skim money from the pool without actually make it too obvious. You don't even have to cash it out to somebody but simply fix the paper work and put in some signature, where requested.
Would be good to ask for a verification of the surveillance people before paying out the money. They would confirm the high hand and then pay the money. Play can resume, as they could wind back the tape. I also noticed that. Some cascinos have the dealer stop the game, count the cards , etc, do all kinds of stuff to "make sure" everything is straight. If they have it on tape, there's no reason to stop the game.
Anyway, when I saw that the PH poker room rakes 10 per cent up to 5 dollars, plus high hand drop plus dealer tip, it was time for me to walk. The loud music from all corners of that mega casino was another reason to run....
From Switzerland
Very soon European players will no longer fly to Vegas but play in Macao. The Wynn Macao poker room is so good that it makes no more sense to fly till Vegas where there are all games super tight and no longer attractive.
It's Vegas' task to bring back the good old times with good quality, good food deals, great room rates, great videopoker, and more.
muddapucker, you think it's any different in any major city across the US? I doubt it.
Not an isolated incident by any means, the daily robbery-games played out in Vegas casinos by supervisors and managers is staggering -- all under the safe and secure ruse known as "regulation".
Is russ hamilton behind this too?
The Gaming Control Board deserves a small pat on the back but this investigation took months--and it involves "thousands of dollars"?! Not millions? Or even hundreds of thousands of dollars?
Too bad for those poker winners who got shorted, but seriously, how much did this investigation cost the taxpayers? Or does Planet Hollywood pick up the cost with the profits gained from their Prive nightclub. Ooops.
I'm starting to think that gambling in Las Vegas is risky. LMAO And that's our ONLY industry.
gamble (gmbl) KEY
VERB:
To bet on an uncertain outcome, as of a contest.
To play a game of chance for stakes.
To take a risk in the hope of gaining an advantage or a benefit.
To engage in reckless or hazardous behavior.
No wonder the casinos want us to refer to it as "gaming" and not gambling. Throw us a lifeline, I think we're going down.
good lord...who is running the show over there at planet hollywood?
this is the kind of thing that WILL kill las vegas. people are uneasy spending money to begin with, if there is the slightest hint that they could be cheated...turn out the lights, folks.
Hey duddrucker,
Take your bible thumping bull roar somewhere else
So much bad press coming out of Las Vegas lately. The good news is these type of stories never seem to make it into the mainstream press, at least I never see them.
Move on out OJ - you've got some new boys coming up that you can play cards with the next 20 years or so.
If ever Sen. Ensign was guilty of something it was this ... he figured out how to make marked cards, print money, scam the bosses and now look how rich he is just from being a pit boss in a casino with his fancy dealings and wearing disguises so nobody would know him. How about that ability to fill out all those forms, too? No wonder this guy has mistresses and wives and pets and four door sedans. He is really a big man. Very impressive since he will run for the Presidency quite soon. Look out Lovelock.
Now that the cat is out of the bag will anyone play in Las Vegas anymore? I mean we all know the Casino is out to get us but the help also? This kind of thing is more than likely happening all over the town. Last time I played roulette I caught the dealer palming chips. They returned my money and he was sent on break. Later I saw him doing it again to someone else so all these Managers and pit bosses are in on it. And it was at Planet Hollywood go figure. Seems you can't trust anyone to give you a fair game.
JerryWayne,
You missed my point... It doesn't matter whether or not LV is like every other city in the US (which in my opinion it is not, believe me LV is unique).
The fact is, LV has to sell itself to the world. The image that it is projecting isn't selling, at least not in quantities necessary to sustain any kind of meaningful economy.
Gambling is everywhere now. As BorisR says, Vegas is in competition with Macao. Its not just riverboat casinos along the Mississippi or indian reservations anymore.
And whether you want to believe it or not, the majority of the Country and I suppose the world are not interested in the semi anarchy that is Las Vegas.
I miss Las Vegas. Benny Binion we need you back!
Crooked Casinos. Crooked Casino workers.
Is this a surprise to anybody?
This is Las Vegas!!!
Hey Dessertsun..did you really mean to spell desert like dessert? "I ate ice cream for dessert" or desert like "las vegas is in the middle of the desert"
The way I read it the players didn't get cheated.
The managers were creating false paperwork showing high hands that didn't exist, thereby taking excess money from the casino and keeping it on the pass through.
If I see it correctly, the player wasn't entitled to the excess in the first place.
These guys have jobs and it's amazing they would jeopardize them for this scam.
As usual Boris has it correct. Internal controls and procedures that are followed can prevent some of this fraud from happening. There are always people out there that will find holes in procedures and try to take advantage of the situation. Almost every casino internal control or procedure has been written because someone has taken advantage previous flaw in the old i.c.'s or procedures. It's been a learning curve for the modern U.S. casino industry since Nevada legalized gaming in 1931.
I have only 2 questions regarding this scam: First, if , to use reggiNHater's 7s as an example, these quad 7s pay 450 usd, there should be at least a few players in the poker room noticing that and remembering the highest of the high hand awards. Then, if all of a sudden, these quad 7s pay only 50, they should wonder what happened and who won it. I reckon the scam was executed when there's not much folks in the poker room, late at nights and also, no "locals" or players who have been playing for hours. They can easily return the next day and then see that the 7s have been re-setted. Just like it happens all the time on the progressive videopoker machines.
2nd question: How much money does the casino actually add to these high hand bonusses? Are they allowed to cut a certain "administrational fee" for counting and managing this high hand? And also, let's think about these progressive high hand jackpots in town. So many of them have become so high now. Is it guaranteed that the jackpot amount is adjusted properly and that they count the drop correctly at all times? Wouldn't surprise me if there's some more "mis-calculating" going on at some casinos. And this would be something no player would notice !
From this point of view , poker at Bellagio and the Wynn and Mirage is the best option. No extra drop for long shot high hand awards means more money in the pot going directly to the winner of the pot.
The intention of these high hand bonusses and bad beat jackpots is to keep the players in the room and hoping for the BIG ONE (which is an extreme long-shot-speculation). The high hand bonusses are something nice but it oftentimes happens that a "tourist" (such as me, lol), sits down for a few hours only and takes down the big bonus while other players trying for days and weeks and don't get anything. If this happens to a bad beat jackpot (Orleans, Stations), then the worse for the local players.
I was in Vienna, Austria, the other day, playing poker in the Concord Card Casino, and then there were a similar promotion going on. Highest high hand on the board every 2 hours. paid 500 Euro!!! I hit a king high straight flush just 5 minutes before the hour and was given that huge award. The guy who was waiting for the payout with his quad kings and ace kicker was mad with me and wanted a split. Which of course I refused. I was the tourist, once again, and he was a local. Not very nice but it happens, just like in Vegas. If I was a local player, I would only play in a game that has extremely high high hand awards to increase my chances.
Poker Players - Jeez.
Boris R and friends don't kid yourself about leaving LV and going to play in Europe like it's some threat, you are POKER PLAYERS and virtually worthless to a casino. Poker, like the buffet is an ammenity. You are only really wanted if you also pump money into slots and table games, but by your bickering about a $5 rake it's obvious you have no value.
I don't think that is exactly what Boris was saying. I think it was less a threat and more about the nuances of the game.
But I am worried about Boris coming and I am worried about other people coming to Las Vegas. They fill motel rooms, they buy food and they use transportation. In short they spend money and in return, they expect a good time on their vacation.
Cheating by house employees doesn't play well in a City that bases its economy on gambling.
Its like going to a house of ill repute and finding out that some of the staff has sexually transmitted disease. Its bad for business.
And that's not bible thumping either... I could care less about prostitution, gambling, alcohol or anything else so long as it is controlled, regulated and legal.
I do have a problem with total disregard for our laws. People that justify their actions on the basis of what other people do are classic weak minded fools that find support for their own deviant behavior with like company.
I am convinced that there is an element in LV that would like for it to become some kind of Dodge City or something where anything goes. No law enforcement at all. Open drug markets. No liquor laws. Sexual activity wherever and whenever the urge hits.
If that's not the case, I would like to know where they want the line drawn. Anyway, that kind of "business model" will destroy LV and give credence to all of those people that say public monies should not be spent in a town that has no rules, no laws, no decorum and no class...
Las Vegas needs to wise up before its too late.
I requested that you delete a comment. It was not the content of the comment but the user name, which is a racial slur. Your newspaper should have spotted it when the user chose the user name.
The funny thing about Planet Hollywood was that I had several totally different experiences during that short time I was in there. The lady of the slot-department was very friendly and explained to me how to activate my bonus on my card and such. The cocktail I received was top notch, not just a glass full of ice and a shot of wodka in it. So much about the good part. Then I went to the table pit where I was shocked to hear this noise from all sides of the room. Different music, way too loud, made it very uncomfortable for me to play. My bet on the craps table lost, which was ok, but then , in the poker room, when I saw that they already rake 10 per cent up to 5 dollars plus the jackpot drop plus tip, then I thought I was in the wrong movie. I cashed out and headed just across the street to Bellagio where I found a much better game that fit my needs. I don't think I will return to PH so soon after reading this article. To me, PH has lost its credibility and good reputation. They should of never put down the good old Aladdin :(
From Switzerland
don from belleville...
i bet you were a hall monitor back in grade school, right?
This has happned at the worst possible time, It IS bad for business, it will be in the back of peoples' minds when they gamble here. If employees can get away with this at one place in Vgeas where the gaming laws are so strict - then is it ha ppening at other casinos in Vegas? everyone at onetime or another, including us locals, wonders about the machines being fixed (which thy're not), the table games - are they on the up and up. And now thepoker rooms.
grandma - integrity IS the name of the game.
They (ALL CASINOS that have poker with all kinds of incentive promotions, such as bad beat jackpot, high hand award, aces cracked wheel bonusses, etc) must have a clear and effective method to secure that all drop that goes to such a promotional pool is being paid back to the players. It's simple, effective, and it works. The following steps need to be done:
a) All promotional drop is being counted by an independant party and under surveillance, possibly with a security person present.
b) The count is to be registered online in a database where the surveillance has immediate access to, as well as to the high hand board.
c) Every high-hand payout must be verified by a phone call to surveillance that can approve the hand actually occured and the amount paid is the amount shown in the high/hand computer system.
d) The total amount of all jackpot monies is to be checked regularly to make sure that there's no discrepancy.
It's simple and effective, like I said. Smaller casinos with high hand amounts written on the wall by a pen should not be allowed to do so. (The old Riviera Poker Room, El Cortez, a.m.m.).
Is it so difficult to follow basics?
oh, I forgot, I think a 5 dollar max drop , which is way enough for dealing the cards off the auto-shuffle machine, that's enough to pay for that extra security measure to make sure all players can expect what they paid for. That's how I see things.
From Switzerland
One of these guys is a good friend of mine...This is totally BS. Someone gets in trouble for something a starts pointing fingers at everyone else. I think its crap how just someone saying something is enough to ruin peoples life. There should be substantial evidence, and there isn't any. And the part about months of investigation is also BS. This just happened and they have only been investigating it for a short time. It even more BS how the media blows everything out of proportion to make a story of nothing. Nothing is even going to happen, because no crime was committed, no money was stolen, and these guys will have to put their lives back together, all because someone who got fired is pointing their finger at the bosses, because they were an idiot. Someone got fired, because they broke rules, so they point fingers at other people to get them back. There should be some kind of recourse taken against that person for what problems they just caused, especially when the allegations are false!!!!!!!!!
Let's just people that actually deserve those jobs have them now!!
The owner of Ph Robert Earl is the reason all of this happens. What he says goes in that place and everybody follows step or he will find the man who will. Management at PH is a joke. Robert Earl says I want this done no matter the cost because it does not come out of his own pocket. Earl has zero respect for Las Vegas and the great properties in this town. He really is a horrible business man with wealthy investors. Sounds like our former president.
I have not read or hear about other strip properties running like this since we last saw the remnants of the mob. PH has always been a ghost town as far as casino play is concerned but now I see no reason for the local patrons of Las Vegas or the wonderful tourists to Las Vegas to enter this property
It's the players that are getting ripped off and not Planet Hollywood if they were filing false jackpots since those moneys should have been going to the players. The jackpots were artificially small since they weren't really hit.
Vegas died when it got hooked on $500 bottles of booze. This is going to be a very long bad dream for this town.
To: mormonssuck
Your username is no prize either, and you are rather rude, but the username I found objectionable was reggiNHater which, if you look at more carefully, is a racial slur.
It ain't me...
Nothing in the name comes close to a slur that I am aware of...
Evidently the morons at the Las Vegas Sun can't fathom what
ReggiNhater
he poster above actually means or do they?
In case anyone was wondering, I posted proof positive that the poster who is now removed was a racist and meant exactly what his name meant. Odd the Sun staff removed my commit. Probably because I spent 2 minutes doing the work they should of did.