A blackjack player lost his appeal to the Nevada Gaming Control Board, arguing he was singled out as an advantage player and should be paid $1,050 as part of a promotional campaign at the M Resort in Henderson.
Rahne Pistor said the incident dates to August 2024 and centered on the M Resort offering a $15,000 suited-blackjack payday promotion that ran from Aug. 1 to Aug. 24. It was available to all M Resort players card members for drawings on Aug. 30.
During the promotion, blackjack players received one voucher for every suited blackjack dealt in August.
The voucher included an entry into a raffle and eligibility for a bonus payout of 3-1 during a blackjack game. Unlimited entries could be earned, but only 10 bonus payments at 3-1 would be redeemed for each patron.
On Aug. 30, the Gaming Control Board report said Pistor bought into a game for $1,000, presented his promotional vouchers, and hit three separate suited blackjacks, then redeemed three of his vouchers. Shortly aftewads, a floor supervisor told him that he could no longer play blackjack and he left the table.
At a March hearing, Pistor testified that M Resort stole “something of value” that he’d already earned “prior to being disinvited to play blackjack.” He estimated that each bonus voucher was worth $150, because he had been wagering the max bet of $100.
Pistor argued that since M Resort allowed him to play and earn “valuable bonus tickets,” it entered into a contract with him. He claimed that by Nevada contract law, prior Board precedent, and standards of ethics and fairness in gaming, “These tickets must be allowed to be redeemed for their value no matter whether they were earned by good players or lousy players.”
Pistor argued that he’d done nothing illegal or improper while playing blackjack and that earning the bonus vouchers had cost him a considerable amount of risk, time, and money. He accused M Resort of “bait and switch” and failing to analyze his play at the table, instead choosing “to use libelous hearsay to try to justify stealing his bonuses.”
Pistor said it’s up to the Board to protect patron confidence and not allow what he called M Resort’s “deceptive gaming practices.”
A table games supervisor testified that Pistor’s play was “inconsistent and didn’t fit the norm.” For example, he said Pistor failed to take any insurance while making certain bets or doubled down on other plays.
Pistor’s behavior led to an investigation by M Resort’s surveillance team and the compliance director testified
that an investigation was done out of due diligence to prevent advantage players. The director testified that due to their investigation, they noticed that Pistor was “counting cards, not just flat betting,” and that M Resort reviews possible advantage players because they do not want their action.
The director of marketing testified that Pistor hadn’t yet earned anything. He stated that based on the statistics for a player hitting a suited blackjack, Pistor would have had to play an additional 560 hands to hit seven more suited blackjacks and claim all his vouchers.
The vice president of finance said that there was no value in the promotional vouchers and Pistor didn’t make any wagers associated with the remaining seven vouchers, so there was nothing to refund to Pistor.
The Board agent testified that although Pistor wasn’t allowed to play blackjack after redeeming three of his bonus vouchers, he was still allowed to participate in the promotional drawing. On that day, Pistor was awarded $500 in the promotional drawing, but wasn’t present at the time of the drawing, so his $500 award was forfeited. He noted that he didn’t observe any fraudulent play by Pistor during his review of the surveillance video. Additionally, he said that while card counting isn’t illegal in Nevada, licensees can discourage advantage play.
