What if you win a drawing with an alt-ID?

2

21forme

Well-Known Member
Recently, I was playing in one of my usual haunts. They had a promotion where once an hour they call a name on the PA system, in their system based on current play at a table or machine. If you hear your name, you go to the cage, show your player's card and picture ID, and collect your money. So, I hear my name, go the the cage, sign some papers giving them my SSN and they handed me $1000!

Fortunately, this is a place I play with my real name. What if I was using an alt-ID? Would I have to pass on the prize?
 
21forme said:
Recently, I was playing in one of my usual haunts. They had a promotion where once an hour they call a name on the PA system, in their system based on current play at a table or machine. If you hear your name, you go to the cage, show your player's card and picture ID, and collect your money. So, I hear my name, go the the cage, sign some papers giving them my SSN and they handed me $1000!

Fortunately, this is a place I play with my real name. What if I was using an alt-ID? Would I have to pass on the prize?
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If I were in the same situation at a place where I do not use my real name, then, my social would have changed by a few digits.. Besides, why do they need your social?
 
21forme said:
Recently, I was playing in one of my usual haunts. They had a promotion where once an hour they call a name on the PA system, in their system based on current play at a table or machine. If you hear your name, you go to the cage, show your player's card and picture ID, and collect your money. So, I hear my name, go the the cage, sign some papers giving them my SSN and they handed me $1000!

Fortunately, this is a place I play with my real name. What if I was using an alt-ID? Would I have to pass on the prize?
Click to expand...

The first thing that came to my mind was the need to avoid any IRS involvement in receiving a prize.

Read about a card counter in Vegas who used a phony ID:

October 18, 2000
Op-Ed/Editorials - Nevada Supreme Court Orders Casino To Pay Card Counter
http://www.basisonline.org/2000/10/index.html

In New Jersey it's a serious offense. I don't know how NJ casinos treat it, but possession of a phony driver's license could get one in a lot of trouble:

Having a fake ID is a serious offense in most states. In New Jersey it is a criminal offense rather than a traffic violation. Offenders can face jail time and have their driver's license suspended for up to 2 years. In Maryland the fine alone is $1500 plus the loss of driving privileges for up to a year.
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http://www.carinsurance.com/kb/content13273.aspx
 
I see a big difference between Chen and this case

Chen played in the casino and though a counter, he risked his money on tables that in fact do not require any ID to play except to verify being 21 or older.

A casino drawing is a different situation. You are getting a prize for which you do not place a bet on. The prize is offered to the lucky person whose name is drawn from those using their players card at the casino. You are playing on that persons card but you are not that person. The drawing rules most likely require the person called to be present to claim his money and my guess was that he was not present.

If you actually had the card created with a phony ID, the ID may work for getting the money. You risk a heavy federal problem should you use a false SS#, since it could easily be seen as trying to defraud uncle of his share of what is in your pocket. In this case, if you used your own SS# and list the 1099 on your tax return, even though the name may be different, you are showing no malice towards the feds and should have no problem. (I am not an attorney and never stayed at a Holiday Inn Express, so this is just my BS opinion)

If you found the players card and used it on the tables, just leave the table as if you are going to get your prize but forget about it and probably just cash your chips and leave. Reasoning here is that the pit or dealer or someone there might know that Mr X whose name was called is sitting at the BJ table and should be getting his prize. Once Mr X's time period for claiming is gone a new name will most likely be called, leaving those watching you wondering about why you turned down free money. As a matter of fact, if cashing chips can take a long time in this casino or you have an amount that requires the cage to call the pit, you are best just leaving and cashing another day and shift.

ihate17
 
In that case, I would not claim the prize with a false ID. Assuming the fake ID corresponds to a real patron of the casino, your claiming the prize could easily be construed as you trying to defraud that patron out of what he won, and that person might be interested in pressing charges against you.
 
sagefr0g said:
lol did you mean something more like this?:
http://www.gamblingandthelaw.com/card.html (Archive copy)
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"On March 9, 2000, the Nevada Supreme Court ruled, 3 - 1, that the Monte Carlo Casino in Las Vegas had to give Richard Chen the $40,400 he won by counting cards at blackjack."

The MIT guy? Nice work Richie! Although I'd really like to know who that one Supreme Court Judge is. :mad:

"Chen used a fictitious Burma passport to obtain $44,000 in chips."

Ha! Johnny C. tried the same trick in Central Europe. They must get a group discount on Burmese passports or something. Hopefully Richard’s fake name was less traceable then JC and LC’s.

Technically there is no such country as Burma (the name changed to Myanmar back in '89) so technically any non-government issued ID is not a fake ID, just a novelty ID. As long as you're not changing/duplicating a government ID then you can legally play under that alias.

-Sonny-
 
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