Players Join Together and Sue the Borgata

Jacob Musterel only has $772 in live poker tournament winnings to his name, however he’s arguably one of the most talked about poker players in Atlantic City right now. That talk is not however regarding his poker play, it’s all about the fact that he’s leading the charge on behalf of 4,000 poker players in a lawsuit against the Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa. In January the Borgata Winter Open $2 Million event was cancelled toward the end of the tournament when it was discovered that Christian Lusardi was using counterfeit chips, $2.7 Million worth. Lusardi was arrested, being caught after attempting to flush hoards of the chips down the toilet, which clogged up the water pipes and led the authorities to him. That’s how the situation played out, and after the cancellation of the tournament as per rules laid down by the Division of Gaming Enforcement, all prize money was withheld by the Borgata.

The $2 Million in prize money is still froze and this is where the lawsuit comes in, with Musterel and the other players stating that the tournament was clearly not properly supervised therefore they want their money back, plus expenses due to the fact that many of the 4,000 players had of course travelled from far and wide to be there. The lawyer acting on behalf of Musterel and others believes that the case is clear cut and the players should in fact receive a refund and all expenses, and while the Borgata will of course have no intention of keeping the prize pool, they could find themselves out of pocket for travel expenses x4000.