In what promises to be an interesting court trial, a Cleveland poker dealer employed by the Horseshoe Casino in that city is facing gambling charges for allegedly removing one of the cards in play while in the box.
According toCleveland.com’s Brandon Blackwell, Robert Brown was indicted by a Cuyahoga County grand jury on Thursday. Brown, the grand jury determined, either knowingly or intentionally cheated while he was working his job dealing at the Horseshoe back in September. The charge that Brown faces, gambling, is a fifth-degree felony, the lowest level of felony crimes on the books in Ohio. Still, there is the potential for Brown to face some jail time if convicted – anywhere from six months to a year – but, if it is his first offense, it is more likely that he would receive a stiff fine.
On that night in September, the Ohio Casino Control Commission was notified that one of the poker tables was missing a card and came to investigate. After scouring the area around the table, removing the automated shuffler and breaking down the table (it is also assumed that the players were examined), no card was recovered by the Commission. According to the complaint filed with the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s office, the card was allegedly found up the sleeve of Brown (security video viewed by the Commission allegedly shows Brown putting the card up his sleeve) and, following the presentation of the case to the grand jury by the County Prosecutor, Brown was indicted for gambling.
Brown tells an entirely different story, however. In an exclusive interview with Fox 8 Cleveland’s Lorrie Taylor, Brown said that the automated shuffler on his table indicated that there was a card missing when he was dealing. He followed protocol, notifying the floor, and the area was examined thoroughly. When the card didn’t turn up, they stopped the search and he moved on to his next box to continue his night’s labor.
It was at this time that Brown found the card. He tells Taylor that he “reached down to pick up a piece of trash on the floor and saw the missing card. “Somehow it was on me,” Brown recounts to Taylor. “They’re saying it was on my sleeve; I don’t even know where it was but they’re saying it was up my sleeve and it fell out.”
Brown stated to Taylor that he was surprised by the charge brought by the Commission. “The guy’s (agent) trying to say I did it on purpose,” Brown stated to Taylor. After being asked by Tayor if the agent offered a motive for taking the card from the table, Brown initially says no – “It’s just a joke,” Brown says – before mentioning that the agent accused him of practicing “how to cheat’ for an upcoming tournament at the Horseshoe. Brown counters this accusation by saying that it didn’t make sense for that to happen as, when in a tournament, dealers wear short sleeves.
Nevertheless, the gambling charge by the Commission has had an impact on the 57-year old Brown. He was suspended by the Horseshoe Cleveland following his arrest.
When it comes to transgressions such as this, it normally isn’t an insider who is trying to change the game in a casino. More often than not, it is the participants in a casino – the gamblers, the poker players, etc. – who are looking to get that edge. Furthermore, it is normally something that occurs in “banked” games – where the casino is the “bank” that they palyers are trying to break – rather than at the poker tables, where the competitors are playing against each other and not the casinos.
Brown’s indictment will not be heard by a judge until November 13, when he will make his first appearance. There has been no indication that Brown has retained an attorney for the case nor what his plea will be once in front of a judge.
