Hey guys,

This is a bit of a strange situation and I know there will be some skeptics but I will try to be as honest as I can here. You can Google my name too.

So I played poker in Grosvenor Casino Walsall from 2010 to 2014, August 20th 2014 to be specific. On August 21st 2014 I went to prison, not for a violent or particularly bad thing. I went to prison for filming a movie in the cinema and uploading it online. I also sold copies of the movie locally and made a relatively small amount of money. Yes, I am a criminal, I did wrong and I paid the price for it. I served my time and ruined my own life, I blame no one but myself. I was blasted in the media for being some super criminal but the truth was I just made a bad judgement call and took a wrong turn in life. I definitely learned my lesson!

Now this should be completely unrelated to my membership at Grosvenor Casino but when I was released from prison and allowed to go out without a curfew again (a whole 16 months later) I tried to go and play at Grosvenor Casino and was immediately informed that my membership was no longer active. I enquired at the desk and was then informed my account was banned and they did not know why or when this happened. Upon further enquiry I was informed my ban was permanant and would not be lifted. I then arranged a meeting with the "new" manager of Grosvenor Walsall and was greeted at the door/front desk where I asked a few questions including the usual what, where and why. He had a huge file in his hand which he kept referring to but stated he could not tell me why for "security reasons".

He then proceeded to give me an email address to email (reinstatement@rank.com) and after my original email I received a reply around 4 days later. Here is the email they sent me...



Basically they state that I will never be unbanned without giving me a reason why.

However, when I originally spoke with the manager I asked if it was due to the high profile case I had been involved in and he gave me a weird look, paused for 3 or 4 seconds and stated "it might be, ask Reinstatements" which leads me to believe it would be exactly the reason why.

Now I'm far from uneducated, and I'm not going to sit here and say things like "they can't ban me, they have to unban me" etc etc. I know it's entirely down to the casino to decide who is allowed in and who they refuse, but the point is I did nothing wrong in their eyes. Yes I made a mistake which I paid my dues for, but I was a very loyal customer and didn't cause any problem in the 4 years I played there. I played 3 - 5 days per week, I had a lot of friends and and built up a great relationship with a lot of the staff in the card room. We had a blast every week.

The ONLY thing wrong was my picture in the paper was of me at a poker table. Yes I understand it COULD have been bad publicity but that was never my intention and was solely the choice of the press involved in the case.

PLEASE, all I ask is for a rep of Grosvenor to give me an explanation, because like I say I have paid my dues and been punished for my crimes. I know of murderers who get given chances after they serve their time, and there are tens of THOUSANDS of people who have a record and still allowed to play in casinos all over the world including VEGAS.

Can anyone shed any light on the situation or offer any advice?

Thanks

pretty sure they can just ban you for whatever and for any reason and theres nothing you can do about it. its sad but im pretty sure im mostly right.

you could lie and say you have a handicap or make it into a religious or race thing, to try and force them to admit you arnt being banned for an illegal reason. at least im pretty sure banning someone from a property for their race or religious reason is illegal? i dunno.

Realistically, what's the best case scenario for posting this? That someone will take pity and explain why they permabanned you?

Would you be any happier than you are now?

Would you pester whoever responded and beg for reinstatement until they regretted their decision to respond?

Like I said in my post, I just want Grosvenor to clarify to me what I actually did wrong, becuase it does annoy me that I can't go and play a game I love anywhere where the bigger games are held, such as the GUKPT for example. I also can't go and play any PokerStars events in London, because the Vic is owned by Grosvenor, so not only are they banning me for no reason, they are also preventing me from ever playing any decent tournament held by another company. How is that fair since I did nothing wrong against the casino?

No, I'm not looking for sympathy, but one would expect fellow players to understand my situation.

Would you not be annoyed if the place you stayed loyal to suddenly decided you wasn't worthy of their venue?

and... you think a rep for grosvenor casino is here... on 2+2...?

and if not...why post..?.. no one here will be able to clarify for you why you were banned.

Why would there not be a rep for the biggest casino operator in the UK on one of the most popular gambling forums online?

Really, you know why you were banned, right? You might not think it's fair, but your crime involving a casino is certainly the reason. I don't see how it would help you to be officially told that. Just assume that is the reason and decide what to do next. If you want to try to get someone to allow you back in the casino, it won't help your case to be the guy who just nagged them into giving you a reason you should have already known.

They banned you because you're a criminal and, apparently, an infamous one (at least locally). Is that fair? Who knows. Is it legal? Who knows.

But only the latter matters. If the ban is legal, then you're out of luck. Hopefully you'll be allowed to play elsewhere or you'll find home games to attend.

How was my crime invoving a casino? I did nothing against any casino at any time before or after the crime I was sent to prison for...

Rapini I believe it is legal, they're a company and as long as they don't publically slander me they can do as they please. I just wanted someone from Grosvenor or Rank to clarify or tell me if there's any chance of being unbanned at some point in the future.

Same reason many 'casino operators' in the United States do not have anyone who regularly posts on 2P2...it isn't worth their time.

You don't indicate whether the copyright infringement was something that occurred on property owned/operated by the casino or its parent (Rank). If your felony took place on casino property, then it is not realistic to believe they want to ever let you return to the property. Casinos forgive a LOT of things but committing criminal acts on the premises is not generally one of them...

Consider this a collateral consequence of having chosen to engage in criminal activities...or, perhaps the collateral consequence of illegally foisting Fast and Furious 6 upon the internet.

There most likely isnt, sorry to burst your bubble.

After reading the accounts of your trial, your actions before and after conviction, your attitude during the trial and why you were sentenced so heavily, it sounds like the casino banned you because you were an ass.

You wanted notoriety. Now you are surprised that you are known, and not in a good way?

I find it positively cheeky that despite you getting busted for lazily using your standard online handle to both commit crimes and try to get laid, you registered your account here with essentially the same handle.

Also, continuing to traffic in product after having already been arrested and charged with trafficking is a special kind of stupid.

Sorry, I misread your OP, mistaking "cinema" for "casino". Cinema is not a common word in the US.

Still, that is 99% likely to be the reason you were banned. Seems pointless to put yourself to the trouble of finding out for certain.

Yes, it is.

Arrange for an appointment to talk to the manager. Put $10K into a file folder, hand it over, and say 'these documents demonstrate why I should be re-admited.'

TR, please.

Hmm, well since I don't remember ever hearing the word spoken out loud in my 50 years in the US, outside of part of an official name of a theater, I'd have to disagree. Maybe you run with a more hoity-toity crowd than I do though.

Really? That's all you want? Be honest, with yourself too.

To be clear, it's pretty clear that's not all you want.

One will find more understanding among your fellow criminals than your fellow players.

--Before I opened the thread, I set the over/under of "how many posts will I have to read before I learn what the OP didn't want to tell us?", at o/u 15. Under was the winner, as post #12 did the trick.

--I hope the Brits and Aussies reading this don't walk away thinking that "cinema" is an uncommon word here. We don't understand "butty" or "knackered", but I'll bet that ten of the next ten people I stop on the street can define "cinema".

I didn't say I didn't know what cinema meant.
I would bet plenty of Americans under 30 don't though. I just wasn't expecting to see it, so my brain put in a word that I was expecting to see. I even subscribe to two movie threads here and I don't think the word has ever come up in either.

I suspect you are also banned from entering the entire country of Canada.

I can see why a casino doesn't want to admit someone who was convicted of illegally recorded something. There's your other reason.

You're welcome.

I know of a guy who has been in prison twice for fraud it was in the papers and he was a former sportsman. He can still go in Grosvenor as i saw him yesterday.

As people have said they are private members clubs and they can ban anyone they want but i do have some sympathy for you. If they banned every person with a criminal record or shall we say a colourful past there would hardly be anyone left in the place.

Sorry about your luck OP

you should post less.

Yeah I'm not sure what answer you're trying to get that would satisfy you. They have every right to ban you from all corporate property unless it's for protected discriminatory reasons. You seem to know that already so I'm not sure what you're looking for? I suppose sometimes casinos retract even lifetime bans, but that certainly won't happen quickly even if they do. I would probably proceed only if the people you've talked to already gave you even the slightest hint that a door could potentially open down the road. If so, I'd ask for the number of the person who makes that determination, wait 6 months or maybe a year, and give it a try. Don't pester, don't demand, and basically don't be an ass. Sounds like it's doubtful, but I've seen lifetime bans lifted where I work so I guess you never know.

As to the cinema question, I doubt many people in the US would not understand the use of the word, but it is not common here. But other word choices aren't either but are still used. My dad actually still says "the show" when he tells me that he and my mom went to see a movie. I don't have the heart to tell him he'll never make it in major league baseball.