Caesars Facing ‘Short Change’ Lawsuit by Louisiana Slots Player

Posted on: October 23, 2022, 09:30h. 

Last updated on: October 24, 2022, 12:39h.

Todd Shriber @etfgodfather Read More
Expertise: Financial, Gaming Business, Mergers and Acquisitions.

A Louisiana man that frequented Horseshoe Casino and Hotel in Bossier City is suing Caesars Entertainment, alleging the gaming giant for years rounded down on slot machine receipts, short-changing customers out of millions of dollars in the process.

Horseshoe
Horseshoe Casino and Hotel in Bossier City, La. A customer is suing operator Caesars Entertainment, alleging it keeps change on slot machine receipts. (Image: Shreveport-Bossier Convention and Tourist Bureau)

The suit was filed by Mike Young of Shreveport in US District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, and is positioned as class action in which other jilted customers can join. In the complaint, the plaintiff says bettors frequently leave credits on slot machines — not enough to earn another spin — because when they cash out, Caesars rounds down the amount the guest is receiving.

For example, if the bettor cashes out with $100.50 cents in the machine, the suit implies Caesars will give the guest a receipt for $100.

For the last few years, Defendants have essentially been keeping the change of hundreds of thousands if not millions of gaming vouchers, essentially robbing their customers a few cents at a time, on millions of transactions,” according to the legal complaint.

For now, Caesars isn’t commenting on the suit, according to local media reports. In addition to Horseshoe Bossier, Caesars runs Horseshoe Lake Charles and Caesars New Orleans in Louisiana.

Casino Change Conundrum Continues

Caesars isn’t the only operator facing a coin-related suit stemming from short-changing allegations at a southern casino.

Last month, a lawsuit filed in Mississippi’s Southern District federal court named MGM Resorts International — operator of the Beau Rivage in that state — as the defendant in litigation with similar assertions to those found in Young’s complaint against Caesars.

Guests have noted issues getting change at casinos across the country since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, when the Federal Reserve claimed raw materials shortfalls were affecting production of pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters. Still, the common practice at most gaming venues is for printed receipts to feature the change owed to the bettor that guests can receive via cash-out machines or at the cashier cage.

Some casinos, including Las Vegas Strip venues, don’t dispense coins via machines, but instead give visitors the option of donating change to charities. Guests that want their change can get it from live cashiers.

In Louisiana Casino, COVID Claim Doesn’t Hold Water

Even if the Federal Reserve’s COVID-19 change assertion is to be believed, it’s not relevant in Young’s suit against Horseshoe Bossier City. That’s because the plaintiff claims that property has been short-changing bettors going back to 2012.

Said another way, if the plaintiff’s claims are accurate, that means the offense occurred in under multiple ownership groups, including Harrah’s, private equity firms Apollo Management and TPG Capital, the entity now known as “old Caesars,” and the current iteration of the company, which was formed when Eldorado Resorts acquired old Caesars in 2020.

The Louisiana suit seeks unspecified financial damages for Young and other class members, as well as attorney’s fees and costs.