Poker player disputes casino ban

[clevfan]

Poker player disputes casino ban


By Dalson Chen,
The Windsor Star
October 31, 2009

A Windsor poker player says Caesars Windsor overreacted when it banned him for life because he handed out flyers on the premises for his own amateur poker league.

Joe Habib, 48, said he's been a loyal customer of the casino for the past 15 years and he's well known to many casino staff and patrons -- especially in the poker room.

"Here they are complaining about bad business, and guys like me who don't really cause any trouble are getting kicked out on a little thing," Habib said.

But Caesars Windsor spokeswoman Holly Ward said she doesn't consider Habib's violation "a little thing," and the casino takes its no-solicitation policy very seriously.

"You cannot solicit business on our property," Ward said. "That is black and white. It doesn't matter who it is, it doesn't matter how long they've been here."

Ward said the reason Habib received the permanent ban is because he contacted a pit manager and informed the casino that he wasn't going to stop handing out the flyers on the premises.

"Unfortunately ... we learned from Joe that he had no intention of stopping his behaviour with soliciting business," she said. "He admitted that."

But Habib denied he ever said such a thing. "Totally, 100 per cent false.... On my brother's grave, I did nothing of the sort," said Habib, a self-described "high Diamond member" at the casino.

"I still play cards with casino guys every Thursday night," he added. "Every one of them, from pit managers to supervisors to dealers, say this is ridiculous. This is beyond punishment for what went down."

The controversy began in the poker room on Sept. 3 when Habib handed out copies of a flyer he'd made to advertise a weekly "NFL poker league" at a local sports bar.

The poker league has since been cancelled.

Habib said the league was legal, among friends and had no "rake" or commission fee. "There wasn't any profit to be made or anything like that. It was just a poker league. We used to have them all the time."

Asked how many flyers he handed out, Habib said about 15.

Habib said a couple hours passed and then the poker room manager (who he considered a friend) took him aside.

"He came and he tapped me on the shoulder. And he said, 'Joe, we have a problem,'" Habib recalled.

"He said, 'You can't be handing out these flyers.... It's taking business away from us.' I said, 'OK, I won't hand them out.'"

Habib said he was told at the time that he had to be barred from the casino for a full day. "I said, 'That's fine. OK.' That was it.'"

But Habib said that when he returned to the casino the next day, after the 24-hour period was up, he was confronted on the premises by more managerial staff and four security guards.

Habib said his friend the poker room manager informed him that he is now permanently banned from the casino. "I was taken aback, of course."

Habib said the managerial staff seemed to be under the impression that he'd been handing out flyers for two weeks.

Habib said he did hand out about six of the flyers in the poker room one night in late August, but no one told him he'd done anything wrong, and he didn't bring the flyers there again until Sept. 3.

Habib said he sent a letter to the casino appealing the ban, but he received a reply earlier this week stating the ban will not be rescinded and he cannot make another appeal for at least another year.

"It's wrong on so many levels," he said.

Habib said that since he was banned at Caesars Windsor, he's been doing his gaming across the border at the Greektown Casino.

[Brother Vig]

Getting banned from a casino is not the worse thing in the world.

[Brother Vig]

"On my Bothers grave" LOL. Let him back in, no way he's not telling the truth.

[Bobby C]

Yeah, he's a poker player, those cats never lie.