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Gambling loser claims he has proof that roulette is rigged

5/5/2001

$5 million lawsuit filed against Montreal Casino

Player, Robert Gurreri, filed a suit in the Quebec Superior Court last week, claiming that he lost $73,000 at the government-run Montreal Casino between 1992 and 1999 as a result of "corrupt, fraudulent and, in the very least, unfair" practices at the gaming tables.
Gurreri seeks repayment of his losses, plus $5-million in damages. He alleges that the casino's roulette balls contain materials such as metals, which are banned by other jurisdictions like New Jersey because they can react to magnetic fields. Gurreri claims the balls stick to the wheel and shift out of position, even jumping out of the pockets.
In May 1998, he says he obtained a roulette ball from the casino after it skipped off the table and had it analyzed microscopically by University of Montreal. Beatrice Pepper, a spokeswoman for Loto-Quebec, which operates the three casinos, expressed doubts whether Gurreri had a genuine roulette ball. And even Gurreri, despite the analysis, is unsure just how the casino has the wheels rigged so it can make the ball avoid those numbers where bets have been placed.

"It's super-integrity regarding these little balls," said Pepper. "Come on, we're a state casino. It's tested and tested and tested again on each step before being used. All these games, they are so safe, there is so much integrity, you would be amazed."

Although Gurreri acknowledges that the odds are always stacked in the house?s favor, he believes that Montreal Casino went too far. "I've sort of lost the love for gambling. There's no fun in it any more. If they can do this, imagine what else, with technology, they can do," he said. "I don't want to start investigating other games because I'm afraid of what I might find."

Loto-Quebec, the corporation that supervises casinos, denies there is any basis for a lawsuit. Casinos have their games inspected and certified by a provincial government lab before they are installed and once a year at the minimum after that. In fact, the Alcohol, Racing and Gaming Board sent all the roulette balls used in all three casinos for testing. The lab concluded that all the balls were "without charge" and would not move on their own. However, it remains to be seen whether Gurreri will be satisfied with the results.

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