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The Indiana Supreme Court recently announced a decision to allow state casinos to ban blackjack card counters and any players found to be following such card counting strategies at their tables.
The court also ruled against Thomas Donovan, a blackjack card counter who had filed charges against the Grand Victoria Casino for banning him from playing in 2006. The court denied him recovery of blackjack money worth $125,000.
When the case was taken to the high court, lawyers representing the Grand Victoria casino claimed that the casino had the right to ban anyone it wanted from its premises. Countering this argument, Donovan’s attorney claimed that the state had no specific laws prohibiting card counting. Unfortunately for Thomas Donovan’s party, the court ruled in favor of the Grand Victoria Casino and went a step further as to issue permits to Indiana casinos to ban card counters.
The Supreme Court made a 3-1 ruling and could not find anything to disallow casinos from excluding patrons of their choice. Justice Frank Sullivan Junior who presided over the case stated, “It seems to us just as likely — if not more so — that discouraging card counting enhances a casino’s financial success and directly furthers the legislature’s express objective of promoting tourism and assisting economic development.”
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