Can casino security beat you?

Question

In movies you always see casino security people taking cheaters or undesirables to the basement, fastening them to a chair and knocking them around good. It seems believable for early Vegas days, but does that still happen in today's world? Can it happen? If so, how do they get away with it without assault charges or anything?

Answer 1

All the times i have been asked to leave a casino it was very polite and well manored, i dont think this kind of stuff happens very often in america at least, maybe in places like macao where some of the casinos still have mob origins

Answer 2

No, it does not happen. It may have happened 60 years ago when the mob owned many casinos, but not in today's world.

They can still attempt to "backroom" you, which means they'll try and detain you in a room to question you. If they try this, all you have to do is refuse to go. Tell them they can talk to you right there, or you can leave, but you will not follow them anywhere. Casino employees cannot forcibly take you anywhere but out the front door. If they do, you can call the police immediately after the incident, and the employees will get arrested and charged with kidnapping.

This is very, very rare though. The casinos may, and I mean "may" try and backroom a professional card counter, but they have no power to do anything to anyone who's not actually cheating (counting is NOT cheating). If you were for some reason cheating, then you are totally within your rights to tell them to either kick you out or hold you on the casino floor, and there's nothing they can do about it.

Answer 3

Anything can happen.  Who would have thought the US would open a military base in Cuba and torture prisoners there?

But being realistic.  Vegas these days is very family friendly.  If you are caught cheating, there are severe laws in place that could see you thrown in jail for quite some time.  So if you cheat, they will detain you and turn you over to the cops.  They'll have all the video evidence and expert testimony in the world.

Alternatively if they take you into the basement and beat the c**p out of you, you will have a massive lawsuit against a company with very deep pockets.

So in this day and age, I don't see that happening.

Apart from anything else, casinos are large faceless corporations.  So although security may be pleased to have caught you.  They are not going to be crazy mad about it.  After all if a Walmart employee catches you stealing, do you think he will take you to the basement and beat you up?  He doesn't really care.  He still gets paid.

Answer 4

They can if they want to. They avoid legal action by you by hiring the most expensive lawyers around.

Answer 5

...Did you just see "21"?

CUZ I DID hahah and that's totally what they did. Now I'm so into the idea of doing that... just not so hardcore. I mean why not do it small time and make a couple extra grand here and there???

But anyway I've thought about it and you know how they get away with it? It's called Power (yes I'm sure they spell it with a capital P) and anyone of authority all works together. I've come to that conclusion. Because working together means they're safe. Make sense? That's my theory anyway. Survival of the strongest, power in numbers, money is power, power is strong... it all equals survival.

It definitely still happens, stuff like that. I have no proof or facts, but I just know. It's just too easy for it to still go on, and I bet it goes on more now than ever before, and will only continue to do so.

Answer 6

Casinos are private property.  The only thing they will do is warn you not to come back or you will be arrested for trespassing.  There is no way they would use violence or anything not allowed by law enforcement.

Answer 7

To the guy above me, in the book the movie was based on the guy is only taken into a room and talked to--he is never beaten.  There was a time in Vegas when casinos did beat up cheaters and card counters but that era is long gone.  Now 99% of the casinos are held by mega corporations, none of which would dare use such tactics; for the reasons you state in your question.  I imagine that in smaller towns and smaller casinos these practices still go on.  Smaller venues can't absorb the losses that the huge casinos can and they'll do whatever they have to in order to keep their margins up.

The worst they can do is blacklist you, ban you from their and others' casinos, threaten you with legal action (although card counting is NOT illegal,) or make your stay and experience in the casino so lousy that you'll leave on your own.