Poker Tournament Refund: Casino Pays Out $1.7 Million After Player Uses Fake Chips

A poker tournament refund is on the way for more than 2,100 entrants after a North Carolina man snuck a stack of fake chips into the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa.

The poker tournament had been suspended in January after officials found out that one player had brought in fake chips.

The New Jersey casino offered the refund to the entrants who finished outside the top 450 and played in the same room as the offender. Each player will get $560, along with their $60 entry fee back.

The remaining prize money will be split up among the final 27 players, who each get about $19,000. The players who finished outside the top 27 but still in the top 450 will not receive any further payments.

In total, the poker tournament refund will cost the casino about $1.7 million.

The suspected chip thief, Christan Lusardi of Fayetville, North Carolina, has been charged with rigging a public contest. Authorities said Lusardi suspected that he was found out and flushed the chips down the toilet in his hotel room at Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City.

But the chips got stuck in the pipes, causing water to drip onto floors below. After other guests complained, hotel maintenance staff found chips that would have been worth about 2.7 million in the tournament.

The poker tournament refund isn’t the first time the Borgata Casino has been involved in sticky legal situation. The casino filed a lawsuit against Phil Ivey, one of the world’s best known poker players, claiming that he cheated the casino out of $9.6 million during a series of visits in 2012. The casino also sued the manufacturer of playing cards that allegedly contained a printing error, which they claim Ivey seized on to win more than $1 million.

Meanwhile, the man accused of causing the poker tournament refund is still awaiting trial, and it’s unclear if he has a lawyer.

He’ll probably have to pay in real money this time.