Many people in Louisiana enjoy spending time in card rooms. In a casino near New Orleans, a round of cards ended with casino and state police investigators reviewing video surveillance of the game. Following their review, they accused the dealer and a player of cheating. This is now an active case in the criminal justice system where both men are likely focused on preparing a criminal defense.
The situation unfolded as a seemingly typical game of cards. The dealer shuffled a couple times, and the game wound up being won as a bad beat jackpot. This is a gambling term used to describe a situation where a player holding a very low hand to start winds up beating a betting player with a strong hand that was likely to win.
When a bad beat jackpot occurs in a casino, officials usually review a video of the game to make sure the win was valid. In this particular case, casino officials instead claimed they had witnessed the dealer fake-shuffling two times on the film. The dealer and the player who won the jackpot (which was not paid out by the casino) were both arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit theft of more than $25,000 and also attempt to commit theft.
In Louisiana or any other state, an experienced criminal defense attorney can help a person accused of such crimes fight against the charges. This may be a relatively short or extremely lengthy process, depending on individual circumstances. Many defendants have successfully avoided convictions by relying on aggressive defense representation in court.
Source: cardschat.com, “Bad Beat Jackpots: Stacked Decks in Louisiana, Final Ruling for Red Rock Case”, Jon Sofen, Feb. 13, 2018
