I experienced a major problem at Hard Rock last night/this morning (<2 hours ago). It's not poker related, but I'm hoping some of you can give me guidance at how to proceed, because I don't really know what to do.

I was taking a break from poker, and I decided to walk the casino to check slots. As I'm walking through, security stops me and asks for ID. I give it to him and ask what it is in regards to. After writing all my information down, he tells me they have me on camera pulling slot tickets that aren't mine. Negative, you can't have me on camera doing that because i don't do that. I'm the guy that cashes out and leaves the 42 cent slot tickets on the machine because I specifically want to avoid any potential problems like this.

As I'm trying to explain the guy how there must be some mistake, i show him the two slot tickets I have, one for just over 100 dollars and one for a little over 500. He asks to see them, and I guess I made the bad decision to hand them over (because they would not be returned to me.)

He says I'm getting a 24 hour ban I have to leave the property immediately. I tell him all my belongings are in the poker room, and it's basically "Too bad, you have to leave immediately". I finally convince him to contact a supervisor to come talk to me outside the casino where I am forced to wait.

During the conversation with her, she mentions something about me being at the casino earlier in the day wearing different clothing. I was not at the casino earlier in the day, I explain to her. She doesn't believe me, of course, but at least now I think I understand what is going on. They must have someone on camera earlier pulling tickets, and they think I'm him.

I eventually to convince her to escort me back to the poker room to collect my belongings. As we left towards the poker room, she tells the security guy to put my tickets in the "void ticket box" or something like that. As we were walking, I ask her how I go about the appeal process and she basically just says "you aren't getting the tickets back".

I don't really care that much about being falsely accused. I don't really care that much about being given a 24 hr ban for no reason. But I really ****ing care that they stole over 600 dollars from me.

So where do I go from here? I can't really believe this happened...I'm still in shock.

Unfortunately, you were on Indian territory and have no legal recourse through the state government or court system. The Seminole casinos are self-regulated. You can make an appeal to the Seminole Tribal Council and a complaint to the US federal National Indian Gaming Commission. Probably neither one will get you anywhere.

Your recourse is to stay away from Indian casinos. They can do whatever they want and they know it. People with unchecked power will often abuse it.

That sucks, to put it mildly. Any chance you could show proof of where you actually were at the time their cameras have "you" out on the casino floor stealing tickets?

Do you have a host (slot players usually do)? Perhaps contact him/her and see if they can help?

Now that my 24-hour ban is over, I'll be going over today to see what I can find out. I'm even more angered now then when the incident first happened. It's a combination of factors that just leaves me flabbergasted. Imagine being told that you are on camera doing something that you know you didn't do, and you can imagine how frustrated I feel, but what almost more irritating is the fact that even if I was guilty of what they are accusing me of and they indeed caught me red handed, stealing over 600 dollars from me is still just an unacceptable response to that situation. If I'm mistaken, and rather than taking abandoned cents, they are accusing me of taking a ticket that someone has ownership of, why would they only kick me 24 hours and why wouldn't they charge me with a crime? At least then I would have an opportunity to clear my name. It's frustrating that I don't even know specifically what I'm being accused of, other than the general term "ticket pulling".

It's hard to say since they never actually told me when the incident took place. Inferring from the security supervisor's comment about being at the casino earlier in the day in different clothing, I assume the incident took place earlier that day, but they never actually told me as such. Depending on the time of day whatever incident took place, I do have an alibi, if you will. I was with friends most of the day and also have an uber receipt from when i left my house. I might have even been in the poker room at the time. Again, I don't know what time the incident happened. Either way, they have definitive proof on camera. I just need someone to actually investigate it. The whole attitude from the moment I was first contacted from security was like "We got em boys. Case closed". Didn't even seem to acknowledge the possibility that I was telling the truth.

No, I don't. I'm not a big slot player.

Aight, couple tips for when you show up:

1) Dress like a businessman. Don't overdo it with a suit, but like dress pants and a short sleeve shirt or khakis and a polo would be good. Do not look like a kid (shorts + t-shirt or shorts + sweatshirt).

2) When you talk to them be extremely polite, but firm. If you sound angry, they will likely throw you out rather than talk to you.

3) If you used your casino card when playing slots, they can look up that you in fact put in your money in the machine when playing slots and not pulled out someone else's tickets. Tell them that.

I went in and spoke to one of the security supervisors yesterday, and I really have to say that he's been a class act. From the moment I first started the interaction with him, he was friendly, listened to what I had to say, and took it seriously. Upon the completion of my initial conversation, he told me he would call me later, and then he called me later. At the end of that conversation, he told me he would call me today, and then he called me today.

That all being said, I don't yet have my money, nor has he specifically told me that I will be getting it back, but from the tone of the conversation it seems like he has confirmed my version of events and now is trying to find out why it happened to begin with. He's going to interview some of the people involved, and also needs to contact his superiors about some things. He told me it will be after the weekend before he gets back to me, due to certain people being off certain days.

That's a pretty crazy story... Also, pretty scary that they can just do that to whoever they want, whenever they with no repercussions at all...


But hope it gets resolved and keep us posted how it goes.

Any update?

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I've been informed that the investigation is complete, and he wants to have a meeting. I think that's good news, but I can't be sure until then. I'm out of town for a few days, so that will take place on Friday. I will post an update afterwards.

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A final update:

They made some restitution, but they did not make it right. They offered me 500 free play and a 50 dollar comp. The guy I dealt with was thorough and professional, and I believe him when he told me he pushed for and got me the most he personally was able to get, but fact remains the the Hard Rock took my money, and even when they were able to confirm that they made an error, they refused to give all of it back.

Be careful out there.

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that's ****. and while this may be a "sovereign property" there must be some regulations they have to abide by. this makes me angry for you. i would make some noise anywhere i can. make complaints to state governing boards. try to show this to some media outlets.

sorry you got screwed.

Probably -EV but if they admitted they an error then she. Sure you are likely to lose to tribal court system. But then you can appeal to federal system. Will cost more than you list though. And even if you win you probably won’t get punitive so to make up for it.

It sucks, but the reality of the situation is he had about $600, got back in one form or another about $550 of it and has a pretty cool story to tell..

Not saying I'd be happy if I was him, but it could have been a lot worse. (Not got anything, got Perma-banned, etc.) I say call it a day, and hope the karma Gods are with you on that free play you got.

Hopefully you keep us updated on how the free play goes, hope you hit the run good, sounds like you deserve it.

There is a set of federal regulations that they have to follow, which cover details on how games have to be run. As far as dispute resolutions, the tribe has been given self-regulation status by our federal government. There is no official recourse to anyone outside the tribe itself. When you cross the border onto Indian territory, you are on foreign sovereign soil. Your rights are extremely limited.

Did you know that under the state-Seminole compact, the maximum liability the tribe has to any individual for personal injury is currently $200k? That's for any sort of personal injury including loss of limbs, brain damage, accidental death, etc. You can't sue for more. To be fair, the same limit applies to Florida state government and its agencies, including state hospitals (per Florida's Sovereign Immunity Statute § 768.28). The difference is that you can petition the Florida legislature to authorize a higher award amount from the state for an individual case. There is no such thing for the Seminole tribe. Oh, and by the way, such liability of the tribe only applies on the gaming floor. If you are injured in a bathroom, restaurant, garage, walkway, hotel room, etc., you are entitled to no compensation at all, not even to cover medical bills.

If he goes to the media/courts etc he could end up getting perma banned so that would be pretty -EV.

People getting robbed at gun point and by floor staff? Ay yi yi

Is their anyway to get a box here?
I played for 2 weeks~ in March '18 mix of 2/5 5/10 and hope to come back again sometime.

No boxes. You can set up a front money account, but I'd recommend against letting HR hold your money for reasons that should be obvious if you've read this thread's recent posts.

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Yea I remember my first day at HR Tampa saw some dude cut off someone else car then box in and fight someone in at the parking lot, lol super sketchy

Did you guys see this?
https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/2...inner-1756570/

Is it safe to even walk to your car there?

What does this have to do with the Hard Rock? The incident happened in Pasco County. Probably related to a home game.

mod: updated the FAQ in the first post. Thanks, browser!

Dinesh, I just played 2/5 PLO with $10 rock last week. Max buyin was $2,000