Nits all over the world rejoiced today on the news that Harrah’s, owners and operators of the World Series of Poker, will cough up an extra $100 to anyone who redeemed a free $15 Birthday Cash coupon at any of the company’s properties. The reason for their added generosity stems from a class action lawsuit filed by Debra Smerling against the company in 2003. Smerling alleged that after the clock struck midnight on her birthday on August 10th, she tried to redeem her free $15 coupon at Harrah’s Atlantic City but was denied by the property who told her that their new casino day did not start until 8:00 am. Not wanting to wait around eight hours for a free $15, Smerling left the property and instead chose to spend the next seven years fighting the company in court for not publishing anything on her Birthday Cash coupon that defined their gaming day hours.
As a result of this lawsuit, some 80,000 Total Rewards members, Harrah’s loyalty-based member program, will receive an additional $100 as compensation for any troubles they might have encountered when redeeming their $15 Birthday Cash coupon. This penalty was passed down by the New Jersey Truth in Consumer Contract Warranty and Notice Act. An additional 270,000 Total Rewards members who received a $15 Birthday Cash coupon but opted not to redeem it will receive notices of this lawsuit telling them that if they attempted to redeem their coupon and were denied, they can file a separate lawsuit against Harrah’s.
Caesars CEO Calls for Legalized Online Poker
Thursday, April 28th, 2011Fortune magazine recently published an article online authored by Caesars CEO Gary Loveman in which he calls for legalized online poker at a federal level in the United States. Caesars Entertainment, formerly known as Harrah’s, are the owners and operators of the World Series of Poker.
In the article, Loveman points out that there is going to be online poker in the U.S. no matter what and that the question is, “Should we seize the moment to legalize online poker, permit a safe and legitimate industry in the U.S., and bring those jobs and revenues home?” He goes on to compare poker’s current state in the U.S. to prohibition and offers some ideas on how to regulate it. Of course, there is also the stereotypical touting of the importance of federal funding for problem gambling services that casino CEOs love to hype. Not that these services are a bad thing, on the contrary, they are very necessary. It’s just that there’s always a certain irony when the CEO of a company that makes its money from people gambling calls for more federal funding to problem gambling hotlines.
Loveman’s op-ed is a reminder that online poker has some friends in high places. If online poker becomes legalized in the U.S., it won’t be because enough people joined the PPA and wrote their Congressmen (though those things are important), it will be because people like Gary Loveman want online poker to be legal and had the right connections to make it happen.
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