problem is he did his time. Anyone with gambling cheating or theft i could see a ban being in place...maybe only look back 20 years? or 15 years?

Sorry about that. I've been meaning to read the entire thread, but it's tough keeping up!

Been following this thread since the outset, this is my first post. Just wanted to make a couple notes.

*when the story first came to light I was playing at a poker room in which a lot of guys I play with all the time had already played and busted out of this tourny. When the idea of everyone getting a refund was suggested they loved the idea, but none of them felt "entitled" to the refund. Just a lot of "how good do I run if we get refunded" type of statements. Since there are a bunch of posters here demanding refunds and posting the same demand 1000 times in this thread. It's not the mentality of most of the players I've come across and they would play Borgata again in the future even without a refund.. With that being said I can't blame those vocal refund players, sometimes it true that the "sqeaky wheel gets the grease" or whatever that saying is, so why not rant and scream REFUND! They are freerolling, it is annoying to everyone else though, so please tone it down (for example ,chipkatcher)

** It seems to me a lot of people overestimate how much jail time this guy will receive. Five years seems to be thrown around a lot in this thread. I'll take the under please. Get some perspective. There are much worse scams being committed every day in the world that get much less then 5 years

That doesn't necessarily mean he paid it immediately, in fact I would guess he didn't. Offenders are usually put on a payment plan based on how much restitution they owe and income.

I know a crime victim who has received $5.00 a month for years.

This tourney was in the Northeast, probably half the field has a rap sheet, LOLOLOL.

More specifically it's in nj. If borgata didn't allow people with any crimes to play they'd be out of business in a month.

i dont know how to post an email, my wife just had a baby today and wont be home until saturday, i will have her do it. correct, i am one of the 27.

does not compute lol emailaments

oh gratz on your baby. enjoy the moment Dad ! special times

^^
Don't know how to copy/paste???

could there have been fake chips introduced into play in a previous Borgata event? Does Borgata have any type of procedures after tournaments are played to see if the proper number of chips are in play?

I can tell you based on the chip counts at the start of Day 2 versus the chip counts at the start of what should have been Day 3, there were 405,000 more chips for the final 27. I know what they post as chip counts for players may not be exact, but it should be pretty close.

We know its a crime to add chips into play, but what about taking chips out of play? Some people probably pocket a small denomination chip to keep as a souvenir. Wonder how many go missing at wsop.

Lusardi was good enough to cash in these 2 tournaments without counterfeit chips?

16-Jan-2009 Borgata Winter Open, Atlantic City $750 + 60 No Limit Hold'em 28th $ 1,556

09-Dec-2008 WSOP Circuit - Harrah's Atlantic City, Atlantic City $300 + 40 No Limit Hold'em 2nd $ 29,189

In before someone wants a refund from 2008 since its possible he cheated but wasn't caught.

I was thinking about this the other day and concluded the only reason most WSOP chip counts probably tally up is because just as many are being souvenired as are being smuggled in

The chip counts are usually off at the end of a day most likely because they are not verified chip counts. They are basically meaningless in a big field event more than one person is going to have a wrong amount.

As far as chips being smuggled into the wsop its possible someone could sneak events from one event to another but its unlikely they are counterfeits. The good thing about wsop is the higher buy in events get more starting chips so it would be hard to sneak a meaningful amount into a bigger event.

I can't wait for all the threads about chip counts being off at tournaments.

Every place I've been to has someone count the chips after the tournament. I would assume there is always a point where they are missing a chip or two. Every event likely will have some error from color ups etc. I've never felt like there is rampant cheating effecting the tournament scene. Maybe there is a small amount but severe punishment for cheating would mostly end whatever exists.

I know quite a few players and I don't think any of them would ever consider sneaking chips from one tourney to another. Just for fear of getting caught or its not in their makeup to cheat. I understand there are some people who would resort to cheating but I think the numbers are very small out of a fear of getting caught and there are just not that people who want to cheat.

your right that's what arraignment is. Thing is here in Atlantic county it's common place to make you sit for 2-4 weeks before getting arraigned.

Like I posted earlier itt, when you go to court the first time they come at you w/ a deal before you actually plea. Also they make you pay rent in the county jail here, $50/ month. The commissary is also more than double the cost as prison. The ac justice center turns a healthy profit regardless of what you hear. The wheels of justice grind slowly at the shore for a reason.

A lot of people seem to think he's not going to get much time? Your crazy. there is no chance they don't make an example out of him. even w/ cooperation.

I still maintain that the powers to be do not have the appetite to make public a grand cheating conspiracy that ultimately makes the Borgata look negligent or incompetent, and opens them up to any kind of liability issue.

They want to paint the picture of one bad actor, that the checks and balances in place worked, the casino did their part, the regulatory and enforcement arm did it's, and now everyone moves forward after a press conference.

I'm going to speculate and say the problem with this is one or more of the final 27 are part of lusardi's crew. Now their stuck and unsure how best to proceed. Nightmare spot. Accessing damage control and getting it right is pivotal, hence zero updates. That's what makes sense to me.

and to others, IF the feds pick up his case, notice the word IF, the MINIMUM sentence they hand down is 60 months. For the record the superior court of Atlantic county routinely sends reoccurring offenders, which this guy is, same kind of crime again, down on max out bids.

They seriously smoke reoffenders. this is the THIRD case he caught involving the same type of crime! They could threaten to hit him with the "bitch." The power of threatening career criminal (habitual) charges is undeniable. everyone cops when the recidivist tag gets dropped as opposed to risking 10 years no good time. ( meaning if found guilty you do every single day of a 10 year bid) One way or another he's going to get hit.

Well that's just naive to think that. There will always be people trying to scam online and live, and it doesn't really matter how harsh of a punishment Lusardi will get, it won't stop a-holes being a-holes and cheating. Upgrading chip sets is important yes, but they are likely not going to be RFID chips (too expensive for tournament play) so there is a chance some desperate f*** will try this at Borgata again as well.

So the question is very valid, at what point is it justified to cancel the tournament? Is it after a single extra tournament chip is introducet to the play? Or after 0,5% of all the chips are wrongly introduced? 1%?

There is always a chance a mistakes is made during chip up, so even if there are more chips than there are supposed to be it doesnt necessarily mean there has been foul play.

Why wasn't WSOP Main event cancelled back in 2006 when there were over 2 million tournament chips too much? The extra chips accounted for around 2,2% of all the chips in play.

It is pretty ridiculous actually. So what happens if you have a criminal background? By suggesting such a thing I'm assuming you mean there will be some reprecussion for having a rap sheet. So they will not be able to participate? What kind of a crime would keep you from playing? Parking ticket? Thepetty theft? battery? Insurance fraud? Deciding what happens from which violation is a pain. No way tournaments will ever do this. There has to be another way to keep the games honest.

and will accomplish absolutely nothing if they are still unregulated "non-gaming chips".


this depends on how its implemented, could be the same or less as new regulated "gaming" chips sets, and offer a myriad of other security, operational, and marketing benefits. Something I never really considered until some of EvilGreebo's earlier posts.

I predict at some point in the future, MTTs will be operated pretty close to how Evil describes. whether that's 1-year from now or 3-years, don't know.

But when it does happen, players, MTT organizers, MTT dealers and staff, MTT media, Regulators and host casinos will all benefit. Scammers and cheats will be the only ones that don't benefit.

Yes, I know. I realize that. But I still think they kind of have to do it so it at least looks like they are doing something to solve these problems. I think I did say it wont help unless they are RDIF, which they most likely wont be.

do what? if you are saying upgrade chip sets as some corrective action, upgrade chipsets to what?

really wish this convo was happening in the other thread, because the points you bring up are important for the industry to discuss openly, as probably only the most morbid have the time to wade through this thread.

Sigh. You didnt understand my point it seemd. I feel like they have to change the chip sets to another chip set entirely. You know, different look and design. If they can add something to it which makes it harder to make fake chips then great. Probably it is possible. Spesific kind of holograms at least for the bigger chips or whatever.

Even though it doesnt mean some poor bastard wont try to cheat in the future this is pretty much such to show that they are taking this seriously. To the public it looks like they've done something to correct the wrong, although we might know better. understand? I agree, no need to keep talking about this in here. Over and out.

not sure if anyone is following the WPT Borgata main event but the guy who is second in chips with 6 players to go, Anthony Maio, is one of the chip gate 27 (last in chips in the cancelled tourney). naturally no mention of the event 1 debacle on the WPT blog but it will be interesting on the upcoming tv coverage of the final 6 if this gets mentioned. yeah, will slide a slight brag in, I was one of the final 27 and also cashed in the 3million main (64th)

There is no way they are going to mention him still being in the cancelled event. Such a bad publicity to talk something like that on national TV. Most viewers have no idea what's been going on in Borgata.