BALTIMORE (Legal Newsline) – A poker player is suing Caesars Entertainment for what he calls a bait-and-switch scheme that left his pot empty.
Plaintiff Robert Lay of Maryland sued Caesars in Baltimore City Court, and the defendant removed the case to federal court this week.
Lay says he spent money to satisfy the qualifying criteria to win entry into a World Series of Poker Circuit tournament in Baltimore but wasn’t let in.
Caesars told him he was an “undesirable” person and told him to keep off its premises. Lay had been indicted on sports gambling charges in 2013 in Oklahoma, to which he pleaded guilty to one count.
He was sentenced to one year of probation and 104 hours of community service.
“The banning notice does not allege Mr. Lay to have engaged in any offensive, problematic, dangerous, alarming or otherwise noteworthy behavior while on the grounds of Caesars property or while participating in any WSOPC event but, rather, is based solely on Mr. Lay’s previous federal charges,” the suit says.