Thanks, but no thanks say Golden Nugget gamblers

The row over gamblers allegedly taking advantage of predictable cards from an unshuffled deck at Reno’s Golden Nugget casino is set to escalate dramatically following the rejection this weekend of owner Tilman Fertitta’s offer to pay the gamblers.

It may be a case of too little, too late for Fertitta, whose minions stand accused of not only refusing to pay 14 gamblers, but also of attempting to get money already paid out to them back and, far more seriously, holding some of them against their will and subjecting them to the indignity of a search and possibly personal assault.

If the players are successful it may mean a final bill for the casino that could be considerably more than the $1.5 million in dispute in the first place.

Golden Nugget lawyers have already lost round one with a judicial decision that allowed players to keep their winnings.

In a bid to make the problem go away, Fertitta overruled his lawyer’s notice of intention to appeal and instead offered to pay the players their original winnings in full, on condition that they halted all litigation against the casino.

The players have now rejected that offer and the stage is set for a long, expensive and potentially bitter legal action.