Baltimore Man Arrested for Allegedly Snatching $16,000 Worth of Chips from Horseshoe Casino

Posted on: November 25, 2019, 11:56h. 

Last updated on: November 26, 2019, 12:18h.

Ed Silverstein @casinoorgedsilv Read More

Expertise: Legal, Tribal Gaming.

Horseshoe Casino Baltimore is the latest gaming venue to see the theft of casino chips. The larceny led to the arrest of a local man.

Samuel Stovall, 31, was charged Saturday for allegedly stealing $16,000 worth of chips from the Horseshoe Casino.

City police provided few details on the incident, but revealed in a Facebook post that their officers from the Southwest District Action Team and those assigned to the Casino District arrested Stovall.

He was being held over the weekend. Stovall was later released on bond, according to 92Q radio station Baltimore.

The casino has more than 2,200 slot machines, over 150 video poker machines, and 153 table games. The games include blackjack, craps, baccarat, roulette and fortune pai gow poker.

They are housed on a 122,000-square-foot casino floor. Many restaurants and bars are in the venue’s 20,000-square-foot Baltimore Marketplace.

Casino Chips Stolen Globally

Elsewhere, in the US and Asia, other recent instances of chip theft have taken place. For instance, in June a Singapore judge sentenced Ding Zhipeng to about 10 months in prison and fined the ex-Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) dealer S$12,000 (US $8,856) for the theft of some S$77,000 (US $56,826) worth of chips.

He had worked as a dealer at RWS from July 2017 to about the time of his arrest. The series of thefts took place starting in May or June 2018 and were uncovered by surveillance authorities in November of last year.

After cashing the chips, the defendant allegedly used some of the money to purchase items — many of which were well-known brands — for a woman identified as his girlfriend, as well as himself. They were able to get a Breitling watch, a pair of Balenciaga shoes, and Chanel earrings, authorities claim, as well as an Apple iPad mini and an iPhone, officials add.

In May, two brazen masked men robbed close to $400,000 worth of gambling chips from a roulette table after apparently spraying a security guard and dealer with pepper spray while on the gaming floor of the Four Seasons Hotel Macau, according to news reports. Neither of the employees were believed to be seriously injured.

Also, in January 2018, some $6 million worth of chips was stolen from the Wynn Macau.

A casino employee, who was described as a VIP room dealer, was charged in the theft, news reports said. It is unclear what happened to the case against him.

Horseshoe Casino Development Plans

Last month, Horseshoe Baltimore began plans to create a pedestrian corridor between the casino and the two nearby professional sports stadiums by developing an entertainment district.

The casino is less than three-tenths of a mile from M&T Bank Stadium, home of the NFL Baltimore Ravens, and a little more than a half-mile from Oriole Park at Camden Yards, home of the city’s MLB team. But despite proximity, few sports fans are walking to the Horseshoe because of the rather unappealing stroll.

The corridor is currently littered with vacant buildings and warehouses, peddlers, and a homeless population. Caesars hopes a new $50 million concert venue dubbed the Paramount will help upgrade the area.