Arkansas gambling regulators pay attention to a viral video in which a customer of one casino is refused payment due to gaming chips, causing tension that is emerging between casinos and players who compete effectively against the house edge.
The scandal started with the emergence of a video on the Instagram page belonging to Paul Contino, or, in other words, Vegas Pauly C, under the name Casinocom Wallet. The video that has received more than 115,000 views and received thousands of comments supposedly depicts the case that took place on May 8 in an Arkansas casino and was related to the allegations of card counting.
Throughout the short yet dramatized clip, the audience is exposed to the events of a security guard telling a cashier cage employee not to pay first one and then another unnamed patron. It is in such a case that the frustrated customer explains that they are no longer willing to fork out their money to pay me. Not possible, this is crazy,” he says. It is reported that the employee at the cashier cage had paid the patron the sum of 10,000 dollars after receiving the instruction to stop it.
The casino is not specified in the original video, though many of the people commenting on the Instagram post have named it Oaklawn in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Representatives in Oaklawn have declined to give a comment on the event.
Professional Card Counter Speaks Out
The case became further interesting when another video followed with a man saying his name was Brutal Chameleon, who posed to be the customer in the first video. Styling himself a “professional card counter” that travels the country making “a lot of money beating casinos at blackjack,” he admitted that this happened at Oaklawn and that he was paid eventually after reaching out to gaming authorities and his attorney.
The author of the pseudonym of a brutal chameleon identified some personal reasons for his actions at the casino. Having served in the Air Force, he had, at one point, been stationed close to Hot Springs and observed people losing their money at the Oaklawn, an act that ignited a wish in him to have something that he termed as a little bit of revenge. He does not simply proclaim his intention of making money: “I actually want to initiate a movement to call out casinos and unethical practices of them.”
Regulatory Response and Industry Implications
Scott Hardin, a spokesman for the Arkansas Racing Commission, said officials first learned about the video during media inquiries on May 8. He, however, added that the commission has not had direct contact with the individual in the dispute.
Hardin said that it would be investigated in case we get contacted and are provided with a complaint. We would actually want more information about the situation after which to address the claims.
This accident reaches a problematic area in the gambling business. Though counting cards is not against the law, at the same time casinos have always had the right to turn off players whom they consider to have an unfair advantage. Backing off skilled players or refusing to pay them has resulted in plenty of court battles during the previous years.
The contagious nature of the given episode is an indication of the strength of social media towards enhancing transparency on the workings of casinos. With the viral video followed by the backlash on the part of the so-called customer, it is clear that contemporary technology can escalate the conflict that could have otherwise been an internal issue between casinos and clients.
In the case of Arkansas, the relatively small but expanding casino industry, this has been a test of how regulations will deal with major conflicts between experienced players and casinos. The case might affect the management of similar cases in the future, and it may affect the reputation of the state in the wider gambling world.
There is also a problem experienced in the case regarding the issue of maintaining a balance between securing the interests of the casino business and treating all patrons fairly irrespective of their ability. With the Arkansas Racing Commission possibly getting involved in this case, their conclusion might have significant implications going forward as regards the manner in which the politics of the state handle similar disputes.
That event is also a lesson that in the era of the Internet, such a dispute in which a casino is involved may easily turn into a PR headache, and the need to conduct its resolution as transparently and equitably as possible is becoming crucial to preserving the reputation of the industry.
