Story Archive

Royal Flush

The Borgata Winter Poker Open tournament in Atlantic City, N.J., was in full swing, but multiple guests at a nearby hotel were calling to complain of leaking pipes. Engineers quickly found the problem: someone had flushed a lot of the tournament’s poker chips down a toilet — $2.7 million worth. Examination proved the chips were counterfeit, and they were traced to a specific toilet in a specific guest room. The guest there had checked out before the tournament had ended; he had won $6,814 before being eliminated. The poker tables were checked and another $800,000 in fake chips were discovered; the tournament was canceled by state gambling regulators and the prize fund has been frozen. Police found the room’s guest, Christian Lusardi, 42, of Fayetteville, N.C., in a cheap motel in town. He was charged with rigging a publicly exhibited contest. Observers said Lusardi had gotten away with cheating, but flushing the chips gave the whole scheme away. (RC/Press of Atlantic City) ...Winning $6,814 only after shoveling $800,000 into the pot surely makes him the world’s worst poker player.