Hard Rock May Have Made Billions from Illegal Gambling

July 1, 2010 - PRLog -- Hard Rock casinos knew blackjack and other "banked card games" were illegal in Florida, but they dealt the cards and collected the pots anyway, accusers say.

"Whether they took in millions or billions from illegal gambling is still an open question," says Mike Trenta1ange, a Tampa attorney who filed a class action against Clear Channel Outdoor, Bally Gaming, and Chipco International this week for their role in the gambling operations.

The Hard Rock casinos began offering blackjack and other "banked card games" in early 2008, the lawsuit says. Banked card games are card games where players compete against "the house," as opposed to non-banked card games, like poker, where the casino only deals the cards and collects a rake, or fee, for dealing the cards. Non-banked card games are legal at Hard Rock casinos.

In November of 2007, Governor Crist signed a compact with the Seminole Tribe of Florida, which owns Hard Rock International, allowing banked card games at the Tribe's casinos.
However, Governor Crist's compact was immediately challenged by the House of Representatives and its then Speaker, Marco Rubio, for its attempt to legalize, by agreement, what Florida clearly outlawed.

In July of 2008, all justices of the Florida Supreme Court agreed with Marco Rubio and the House of Representatives. The Court declared Governor's Crist's gambling compact illegal and void because of the clear illegality of banked card games in Florida.
However, the ruling did not stop the illegal games at the Hard Rock casinos or the other casinos owned by the Tribe, accusers say.

"They didn't even slow down," said Trenta1ange. "When the Supreme Court reaffirmed that banked card games were illegal, they just hit the accelerator, ignoring the legislature and ignoring the Supreme Court, in single-minded pursuit of illegal money."

Florida has well-established law, providing that those who promote, conduct and financially back illegal gambling operations can be sued by those who lost their money to the illegal operation.

According to Trenta1ange, "People go to casinos, instead of backdoor card games, because they think the games offered are legal, that gaming regulations ensure games are fair, and that the casinos pay taxes. But, the illegal games played at these casinos had no federal or Florida government authority supervising the games, and no law taxing the casinos' illegal winnings."

The economic benefits of even the casinos' legal operations have been criticized. According to a 2009 study by Amy Baker, chief economist to the Florida Legislature, "cannibalization" results when customers simply "shift from existing Florida resorts and convention centers to the facilities owned by the Seminole Tribe."

According to Baker, lodging and convention business in Florida suffer a "competitive disadvantage to the expanded Seminole-operated facilities" because the Tribe both sells and buys items free from sales taxation. The Tribe is also exempt from federal income taxation.

"These casinos offer questionable benefits even through their legal operations. But, we are talking about the purely illegal operations," said Trentalange. "Too many big corporations think they do not have to follow the same laws that everyone else does. They believe that so long as they can make a profit and sell the community on their 'job creation' ability, they can break the law and suffer no consequences for their actions."

"There is nothing redeeming about illegally siphoning money from a hurting economy,"
he said. "The companies that are aiding and abetting these illegal gambling operations are helping to siphon it away from legal, legitimate Florida businesses that could otherwise create more jobs themselves."

"In that way," Trentalange said, "people who profit from illegal gambling are no different than drug kingpins."