A test at Encore for Gaming Commission
It’s an adage as old as gambling itself: “The house always wins.”
A class action lawsuit filed Monday in Middlesex Superior Court alleges Encore Boston Harbor is paying out blackjack winnings at 6-5 odds instead of the norm of 3-2.
Spoiler alert: They are. State gaming regulators seemingly sorted out the issue Thursday, saying Wynn Resorts is paying out at both rates, depending on the table stakes gamblers are playing by — and that it’s all perfectly on the up-and-up.
The suit filed by attorney Joshua Garick on behalf of plaintiff Richard Schuster charged Encore with using the 6-5 odds to pad their cut of the wagering by more than $85,000 a day, which would give Encore a cool $30 million a year.
On Thursday, the Gaming Commission “preliminarily found Encore to be in compliance with the commission’s rules and regulations.”
The commission found that the tables paying the higher odds — almost two-thirds of the tables at Encore — had the appropriate signs notifying players of the different rates.
Garick told reporters Thursday he was disappointed “that the investigation arm of the commission, in under 24 hours, conducted what they claim to be an investigation into our allegations,” without contacting his firm to discuss the allegations.
“If the Commission’s goal is to ensure gaming in Massachusetts is conducted with integrity, we question why Encore representatives sat with the (Investigations and Enforcement Bureau) investigators and participated in the presentation, while we were not contacted or invited to participate in any way,” Garick said in the statement to the Herald.
Garick said they’ll proceed with the suit, which also accuses Encore of chiseling change from slot machines by “rounding down” earnings, allowing Encore to pocket the difference — a claim Encore dismissed as ludicrous.
“The claims in the lawsuit are false and unfounded,” Encore Boston Harbor President Bob DeSalvio said Thursday. “Every customer gets every penny that they deserve at Encore Boston Harbor, and never would we engage in a practice that would actually keep any of our customers’ money.”
Garick told State House News, “We’ve read the regulations and it’s our interpretation of those regulations that the game of blackjack does not allow an eightdeck shoe where they pay 6-to-5 odds on a blackjack,” Garick said. “We intend to fully raise all these issues to a judge rather than in a commission where the inspector and representatives of the casino are sitting at the same table.”
When asked by the Herald whether the commission reached out to Garick’s firm regarding the allegations, commission spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll said in a statement, “We understand that the lawsuit will proceed in the appropriate forum; however, the Commission’s responsibility was to determine regulatory compliance by Encore.”
“The public filing of the lawsuit put the MGC on notice of these allegations and required the review of Encore’s compliance with rules and regulations developed by the Commission,” the statement continued. “MGC staff carefully reviewed the 13-page complaint alleging violations of our rules by Encore Boston Harbor. As the agency responsible for regulating the integrity of gaming and with understanding of our own rules and regulations, the IEB’s memo describes in detail the analysis regarding compliance by Encore.”
Encore hasn’t been open a month, and it’s already got its first lawsuit. Deep-pocketed businesses attract them, and Wynn Resorts has very deep pockets.
The Gaming Commission will be addressing concerns about Encore, Plainridge, MGM, and any other gambling entities that fall under its purview. It’s vital that it stands above — not with — the companies it oversees. It must not be caught flat-footed. We need full transparency throughout the process and regardless of the merits of the accusations there can be no appearance of favoritism or impropriety.