If you’re playing your casino games online using online banking or cryptocurrency casino transactions, the thought that you might be kicked out of the casino may never have occurred to you but surprisingly, it happens fairly regularly at land-based casino venues.
Vegas casinos welcome guests from all over the world with the best gaming entertainment along with accommodations, meals, drinks and promotions that make it easier for you to book future trips.
Yet land-based casinos sometimes exercise their legal rights to refuse service. Legally, a casino, as a private venue, has the right to exclude any individual, at any time, for any reason. Obviously, they don’t exercise the option to kick people out very often because it’s to their advantage to have you betting on the gaming floor.
But it can and does happen when the casino believes that your presence is a detriment to the kind of atmosphere that they want to create.
Why Would a Casino Kick You Out?
Brick-and-mortar casinos kick people out for a variety of reasons. If a person is suspected of being underage (or can’t provide proper identification), is caught cheating (illegal, meaning that if you’re caught cheating, it might also result in legal action), becomes intoxicated, is disruptive, uses electronic devices in areas of the casino where it’s forbidden or violates casino rules, they will most likely be asked to leave.
The prohibition against counting cards is a little trickier because it’s hard to assess whether an individual really is counting cards in blackjack games (the practice of keeping a running count of high and low valued cards dealt).
By knowing which cards are statistically more likely to be dealt, the player gains an advantage and is then able to make more informed decisions about how to proceed in the gameplay and how to bet based on his/her understanding of the composition of the deck.
Casino security staff use sophisticated observation techniques to try to catch card counters and when they find them they can expel them from the casino but they can’t deny them any payouts that they’ve achieved up to the time that they are asked to leave.
Finally, a land-based casino can kick you out if you have a strong winning streak. Yes, really. There are countless stories of regular Joes who enjoy a strong winning streak and are then escorted to the door and told that they aren’t welcome to return.
Is it legal? Yes, the casino is a private business and they can refuse service if they wish. Most casinos carefully weigh the pros and cons of excluding a person for winning too much because in today’s social media era, if word gets out that a casino isn’t allowing someone access because they won too much, the negative publicity might override the money that the casino could save by expelling the big winner. It’s a tough decision for the casino.
Famous Cases
Some of the most famous cases of people being asked not to return to a casino include
Ben Affleck
Actor Ben Affleck was playing blackjack at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in 2014 when the casino accused him of engaging in card counting at a high rollers’ table. Affleck never admitted that he had been counting cards but he did say, “I took some time to learn the game and became a decent blackjack player. And once I became decent, the casinos asked me not to play blackjack….I mean, the fact that being good at the game is against the rules at the casinos should tell you something about casinos.”
Dana White
Dana White, CEO and president of the UFC, is a dedicated blackjack player at high-stakes tables in Las Vegas but his wins, including a $7 million payout from a single night’s gambling, has resulted multiple Vegas casinos denying him a seat at the table.
According to White, “This is like my part-time job. I work in the UFC all day and play cards at night…..It’s not that I’m banned from casinos, they just don’t want me to play there. They won’t give me the limits that I want and they won’t let me bet as much as I want because they don’t like to lose….The Palms has kicked me out of there twice, The Mirage, the Wynn will not let me play….. The only places that will let me play in town are Caesars Palace, the Bellagio, and The Venetian….I have not lost a night of cards since December 21 and I just hit them again…..”
Derren Brown
World-renowned British illusionist Derren Brown has been banned from most European casinos for card-counting, a practice that he cheerfully acknowledges, even having made videos showing how he plies his winning ways. He was welcomed into the Broadway Plaza Casino in Birmingham, England in 2013, allowed to sit with his friends at a blackjack table but told that he couldn’t place any bets. “They were very nice, served me food, but they wouldn’t let me play.”
Allen Iverson
NBA star Allen Iverson tried his bad boy ways at a Detroit casino and was immediately told to leave. Some of his antics included throwing his cards and chips at a dealer after a loss, being disruptive and rude to other patrons and staff members and even urinating in a trash can. Other cities’ casinos soon heard about the Detroit casino’s decision and told him to refrain from visiting their venues as well.
Online Casinos
Online casinos can also deny a player the opportunity to play at their casinos if they suspect that the gamer is using unethical methods to win. If the online casino has a valid reason, it can exclude a player and even deny payment if terms of service are not met.
