Two Players Who Have Filed A Lawsuit Against The SugarHouse Casino Have Withdrawn Their Accusations

In May of this year, two gamblers launched a lawsuit against SugarHouse Casino, claiming…

… they had been cheated out of potential winnings for almost a year due to the malfunctioning of the venue’s automatic card shufflers.

Anthony Mattia reported the alleged loss of $147,000 at the casino while William Vespe claimed on another $103,000 in losses.

Since both gamblers have decided to withdraw their lawsuit, SugarHouse is off the hook for now.

As one of the oldest and most reputable casinos in Philadelphia, this venue offers a “premier gaming and nightlife experience in the city.” Its $164 million expansion brought new amenities, featuring six restaurants, luxurious event space, a seven-story parking garage and more.

When Pennsylvania officially launched its online gaming market, the brand’s online version PlaySugarHouse was the first gaming site in the state available via Apple mobile devices.

Automatic Card Shufflers Main Culprit for Legal Actions Against Venue

By the claims of Mattia and Vespe, the casino’s shufflers were not working properly.

As a result, they lost money playing blackjack, poker and mini-baccarat.

They accused the venue, and parent company, Rush Street Gaming, on several counts:

• Negligence
• Unjust enrichment
• Breach of contract

To make this case more interesting…

… player’s allegations were ed by fines imposed against this venue by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) for using bad decks at the games. It was found that some decks had too many cards and others didn’t have enough.

Also…

… the automatic shufflers were found to sometimes deal sequentially, not randomly.

The Lawsuit is Voluntarily Withdrawn

Both players had filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, which is a federal court.

This Pennsylvania casino had argued that the case didn’t fall under federal jurisdiction and requested dismissal of the lawsuit.

According to court documents from July 11, the lawsuit has now been voluntarily withdrawn by gamblers.

The lawsuit was withdrawn without prejudice. Meaning that Mattia and Vespe could decide to refile suit at a later date. If that’s the plan, they should prepare better, since the venue has a strong defense.

The site had pointed out that the plaintiffs had not been able to properly show how much money they had actually lost when the dismissal was requested.

Furthermore…

… the venue points out that players made other accusations in the suit that don’t have any legal grounds.

Among these, was the fact that the gamblers did not “allege any specific facts that establish they gambled and suffered ‘wagering losses’ on the same dates in which SugarHouse purportedly committed the infractions identified in the Complaint,” according to the casino’s lawsuit dismissal request.

While the case is over, for now, it doesn’t mean that this is the end of the Mattia and Vespe claims.

It is quite possible for them to go after the SugarHouse casino and its parent company Rush Street from a different angle.

Source:

“Lawsuit against SugarHouse Casino withdrawn”, calvinayre.com, July 26, 2019.