It has been reported on the 2+2 forum that a poker player at the Desert Diamond Casino-West Valley in Glendale, Arizona has run out of the casino with all his chips after losing an all-in confrontation. Andrew “Fez” Walsh escaped past security holding his chip stack without paying his opponent.
Andrew Walsh Runs Away with Chips After Losing All-in Hand
The game was a $2/$3 NL cash game with 6-7 players seated at the table and Sarah Spades from the 2+2 forum explained in detail how the action panned out.
- “The guy in seat 4 raises to $15, he had about $500 behind.
- The guy in seat 6, with about $800 behind 3-bets to $35.
- Seat 7 (who only had about $80 behind) flat calls
- Seat 4 calls.
- Flop: 8c – Tc – 6d
- Seat 4: check
- Seat 6: bets $40
- Seat 7: moves all-in for his last $45
- Seat 4: Moves all in for $400+
- Seat 6: Insta calls and shows KK with the king of clubs
- Seat 4 shows Q9 of clubs (straight and flush draw)
- Seat 7 shows QJ off (?)
- Three of clubs on the turn, 4 of heart on the river. Seat 6 wins with a flush.”
It was at this point that Welsh took advantage of the dealer being distracted with counting the chips of the player in seat 6 and clawed back his $40 bet.
He then racked up all his chips and darted towards the door before anybody had a chance to shout for security.
What Does the Law Say?
As is the norm, the thread on 2+2 exploded into disagreement about what the law actually says in a case like this.
This casino is located on tribal land where the laws can differ from the rest of the United States in some cases.
Tribal police were called and reports were taken but there is still no definitive answer from the authorities about where the affected player stands.
Some poster on 2+2 claimed that this becomes a civil matter because it is player versus player and not against the house. All the casinos can do is ban the player.
“… I have seen this multiple times in LA casinos. Basically, the player gets banned until he pays back the amount. Police don’t get involved.”
There is also the point that the $40 already in the pot might belong to the casino but the chips behind remain the property of the player. Again, there has been no confirmation of what the law says.
Another poster added their thoughts saying that Nevada is the only state that has a specific law for this type of incident.
“I think nevada is the only state that makes doing this illegal… they literally wrote into law all casino chips are property of the casino or something to that effect so if a casino says you can’t take those chips with you then it’s stealing even if you’re in possession.
“All other states its a civil matter and good luck pursuing that yourself in court when the casino wants nothing to do with it. If it happened to me I’d definitely make the casino at least feel somewhat liable/threatened since they were negligent in not pulling the money into the pot.”
The poker community no doubt wants to see some clarification on this as if it becomes common knowledge a can of worms will be opened with many unethical players prepared to try this scummy move.
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