Question of the Day - 07 January 2023

[Editor's Note: This question had Arnold Snyder's name all over it.]

The issue banning of card counters by casinos has gone as far as state supreme courts in the U.S.

In New Jersey, the Supreme Court justices ruled in favor of the players. The Atlantic City casinos cannot ban players at all for card counting, not even for an afternoon, let alone “for life.”

In Nevada, the Supreme Court has, not surprisingly, ruled in favor of the casinos. They can ban players for any length of time, including for life.

In Louisiana, the law is similar to New Jersey's, prohibiting casinos from banning players solely based on their skill level.

Other states have ruled on this issue both ways.

Of course, casinos in states where counters cannot be barred employ other countermeasures to protect their games from counters —restricting the player’s bet size, shuffling the deck(s) sooner, etc. 

If such a case ever made it to the U.S. Supreme Court, it’s hard to say which way it would go. On one hand, Intelligent people are not a legally “protected class.” Laws prohibit businesses from banning on the basis of race, religion, age, color, nationality, disability, gender, etc. But not based on an intellectual ability to to do mental arithmetic quickly and flawlessly. 

There are a few practical exceptions to the protected-class laws. Adult-entertainment businesses can post age restrictions (and are required to do so). Amusement parks can post age/height requirements for rides where safety is a factor. Etc.

On the other hand, in most states, all businesses that are open to the public are within their rights to follow the “Innkeeper’s Law,” which allows them to “refuse service to anyone.” Derived from English Common Law over the centuries, this enables businesses to eject customers for failing to observe the dress code, being disorderly, drunk, bothering other guests, disrespecting house rules, opening a window to feed the pigeons, throwing televisions into the pool, knocking out the hotel’s power by dropping a plugged hair dryer into the sink full of water (all true events that led to banning), etc.—provided they’re not kicking out guests for being in one of the protected classes. 

I think it’s unlikely that the U.S. Supreme Court would hear this case. Since casino gambling isn’t even legal in many states and there is no “right to gamble” in the Constitution, it would likely be tossed out as a states’-rights issue.