Story Archive

All In

During a poker tournament at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City, N.J., hotel engineers were investigating a sewer leak and made a startling discovery: someone had flushed millions of dollars’ worth of poker chips down the hotel’s toilets. The tournament was suspended, and the chips proved to be counterfeit; a check of the tournament chips found that about 160 counterfeit $5,000 chips had been used in tournament play — someone was cheating, apparently got too nervous to continue, and flushed the rest of the fakes. Player Christian Lusardi, 43, of Fayetteville, N.C., admitted to buying the chips from China, but what crime to charge him with? After a plea agreement, prosecutors recommended Lusardi pay $463,540 in damages to the casino for interrupting the tournament, $9,455 for damage to the plumbing, plus face a three-year prison sentence for criminal mischief and, since the chips bore the trademark of the hotel, a five-year sentence for “trademark counterfeiting.” (RC/Trenton Times) ...So be sure your Get Out of Hell Free® card is legitimate.
Original Publication Date: 13 September 2015
This story is in True’s book collections, in Volume 22.

Is There a Problem on This Page? Let Me Know using the Help button lower right, and thanks.

I believe humanity is held back by the lack of thinking. I provoke thought with examples of what happens when we don’t think, and when we do. This is True is my primary method: stories like this come out every week by email, and basic subscriptions are free. Click here for a subscribe form.

Previous: New Wheels

Search for:

Category: