Rivers casino dealer fined $75,000 for taking poker chips
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A man accused of stealing $200 worth of poker chips while working as a blackjack dealer at the Rivers Casino was sentenced Tuesday to pay a mandatory $75,000 fine.
Matthew Eisenberg, 26, pleaded guilty and was sentenced by Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Joseph K. Williams III to one year of probation. However, the count to which he pleaded, a misdemeanor, is covered under Pennsylvania's gaming laws, and requires a $75,000 fine.
Allegheny County district attorney spokesman Mike Manko said his office believed the crime fit the statute.
According to investigators, Mr. Eisenberg was seen in video surveillance taking poker chips off the table while he was dealing and putting them into his personal tip box. He would take a $1 or $5 chip from the pot with his right hand and slide it into the pile of discarded cards. After the hand was over, and the pot pushed to the winner, Mr. Eisenberg would then condense the cards to prepare for the next hand. He then would tap the chip out of the cards into his left hand and put it into his tips box.
Police say he did this on 108 separate occasions.
"We believe the General Assembly wrote the statute to protect the integrity of the casino process," Mr. Manko said.
Mr. Eisenberg's attorney, Michael Santicola, could not be reached.
First Published July 20, 2011 12:30 am
