The Weirdest Casino News Headlines
By Alex J. Coyne © for Great Bridge Links
News is often weirder than fiction. Alex went digging for some of the weirdest casino news headlines he could find. Sorry, these are going to stick with you for a while!
Poker Room Ejects Player… for the Smell
Source: The Mammoth Book of Weird News
Poker regular and businessman Michael Wax found himself booted from the poker room at the Borgata Casino & Spa in Atlantic City in 2008 – why? According to the Mammoth Book of Weird News by Geoff Tibballs, other players were complaining about his smell. He did not deny the claim. In fact, he agreed, saying he’d been playing for seventeen hours straight.
Also found in the Mammoth Book of Weird News was this one:
Thieves Snatch the wrong kind of chips
Thinking they had intercepted a stash of valuable casino gambling chips, two Las Vegas hijackers ordered the driver of a truck marked ‘Vegas Chips’ to surrender his load at knife point. It was only later that they discovered the vehicle was full of potato snacks instead.
Blackjack Bust
Source: The Charleston Gazette
In August 2016, West Virginia newspaper The Charleston Gazette reported the story of 52-year old Kerry Johnson: He found himself playing blackjack at the Mardi Gras Casino and got up “somewhere around 3 p.m.” – to rob a nearby bank. After taking an undisclosed sum of money, Johnson returned to his game of blackjack. Yes, the money gotten in the bank robbery was later found at the blackjack table. Magistrate Ward Harshbarger remarked, “Reminds me of that song. What were you thinking?” We have no idea how his game went.
Is Live Casino the New Big Trend?
A brand new report from Online Gambling Quarterly indicates that live casino gone from having only a niche roll in the market to now being one among the top 5 future growth products. With declining customers visiting the land based casinos more and more people are now looking into the exact same games but played from their own mobile or computer.
A Snake in the Grass…or Not!
The Sands Casino Resort in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania had to issue an official statement in 2014 stating that there are definitely no snakes present at the casino and that their patrons are in no danger. This was after a rumor started circulating on social media that snakes were in the grass – or on the casino floor.
Woman Wins Big…Or Does She?
Katrina Bookman thought she had won the $43 million jackpot at The Resorts Casino in Queens, NY; when she went to claim her prize, she was instead told that the win was an error on the machine’s part and offered a complimentary steak dinner and $2.25. The NY State Gaming Commission ruled that “malfunctions void all pays and plays.”
Casino Sues Gamblers
Source: USA Today
The Golden Nugget Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey sued fourteen baccarat players in 2012 who took home more than $1.5 million after realizing that the decks were coming up in the same sequence, resulting in 41 hands won against the house in a row.
The Man Who Bankrupted the House
In 2011, professional gambler and businessman Don Johnson gained notoriety for being the player who nearly bankrupted three different Atlantic City casinos playing Blackjack. Within six months of playing, he had taken a reported $15 million from the house. He was subsequently banned from playing several other casino’s, including Caesar’s Palace