Fallsview Casino Wins Lawsuit Against $2m Roulette Losers

The losing streak of four roulette players seems destined to continue after not only losing their lawsuit against the Fallsview Casino, but also being ordered to pay a further $200,000 in legal bills.
Back in 2006, the high-stakes gamblers had lost $2.1 million playing roulette at the Fallsview Casino Resort in Niagara Falls, Canada. However, the group then tried to collectively sue the casino, believing its so-called floating ball policy was illegal. Apparently, at the Fallsview Casino dealers were permitted to remove a roulette ball if it was stationary while the wheel was still spinning or if it was taking a long time for the ball to drop into a number.
The high-stakes gamblers then argued that the casino had failed to get the “floating ball” policy approved by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, and so all the roulette games they played were illegal. Unfortunately for the gamblers, however, on Tuesday The Court of Appeal for Ontario ruled against their case finding that the “floating ball” policy didn’t count as a rule of play and thus didn’t require the commission’s approval. Furthermore, the judge ruled that as the casino dealers returned all wagers on floating balls, then the men had even less of a case to argue.
This time around the judge also saddled them with the casino and the commission’s legal costs throughout the whole process amounting to around $200,000. The four losing roulette players are Joaquim Moreira, Moshe Braunstein, Remo Gigliotti and Tebaldo Barbuscio.
Of the men, Braunstein had borrowed $34,700 from the casino and Barbuscio $75,000 back in 2006. By late 2007 Ontario Lottery and Gaming then started demanding their loans were repaid and a few months later the men launched their lawsuit.