You know those movie scenes where a card counter gets escorted into a back room in a casino and physically “convinced” to never step foot on the premises again? Well, that stuff doesn’t happen anymore, but casinos certainly do not like card counters and have been known to show them the door. That is what allegedly happened to a Maryland poker pro recently, who claims that he was not only banned from the casino, but also banned from the World Series of Poker.
The poker player is 32-year old Joseph Stiers of Silver Spring, Maryland, in the Washington, D.C. area. Talking to the Baltimore Sun, Stiers says he was barred from all Caesars properties for counting cards at an “amateur level” at the Horseshoe Baltimore Casino. According to Stiers, he was playing roulette after a stint at the blackjack table on December 19th, 2014 at the Horseshoe when a couple members of the casino’s security team approached him and asked him to leave. He asked why and after they were unable to give him an answer (they very well might not have known and were simply doing what a superior told them to do). He did leave, but he gave them his contact information so that they could later inform him as to the reasons why. A week went by and he didn’t hear anything from security, but since he continued to receive special offers from the casino in the mail, he returned on December 27th.
That day, a Saturday, Stiers said he participated in $350 poker tournament at the Horseshoe Baltimore Casino and it was that day, he said, that he was “thrown out in a hostile manner.” Stiers said he requested a refund of his buy-in, since he was already over an hour into the tournament, but they would not oblige. The security staff threatened to call the police if Stiers didn’t leave and he encouraged them to do so because he at the very least wanted his money back. The police arrived and eventually Stiers did leave without a refund; he said the police seemed confused, as well, as the casino would not give a reason for kicking Stiers out.
About a month later, Stiers did receive a refund of his money.
The whole incident has obviously frustrated Stiers, as not only has he been banned from a casino he often frequents, but since he is also banned from all Caesars properties, he cannot play in the World Series of Poker. According to his profile on TheHendonMob.com, Stiers has won over half a million in live tournaments, about two-thirds of which was from a preliminary event at the 2013 Borgata Winter Poker Open. He has four cashes at the WSOP.
Stiers told the Baltimore Sun that he has over $600,000 in live tournament cashes (he was confirming what the interviewer said, so he might have misheard or not all of his cashes are recorded) and that he had over half a million in online winnings before he stopped playing on the internet.
Counting cards at a casino is not cheating, but that does not mean that casinos enjoy it when someone tries to gain an edge. As casinos are private businesses, they do have the right to serve or, in this case, not serve whomever they choose (laws against discrimination still apply, though). While it stinks for the card counter, and may at times reflect poorly on the casino, the casino is allowed to ban someone if they do not want them playing there anymore.
