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A low-stakes poker player sought a six-figure judgment against a London casino over a hit-and-run ban, but ended up the party required to pay.
The player in question, Dr Mortaza Sahibzada, as reported by The Independent, told the court he’s an “expert in safe gambling” and was banned from Hippodrome Casino in September 2023 for “cashing out too fast” from poker cash games.
Poker Player Seeks Compensation
Sahibzada, from England, frequented the PokerStars LIVE Hippodrome Poker Room, a PokerStars-branded card room that has hosted the European Poker Tour (EPT). He claims he had a winning strategy, which was to win a small amount — about £75 — and then to quit the game, even if he had just sat down at the table.
This hit-and-run approach apparently led to the casino permanently banning the poker player. Sahibzada claims he was winning approximately £2,000 per month playing regularly. But he was barred from stepping foot in the casino ever again, and attempted to take legal action in the form of a £100,000 lawsuit.
Sahibzada, at the Central London County Court, accused casino managers of secretly siding with other poker players in the card room who disapprove of his hit-and-run strategy. Many poker players frown upon getting up from a game immediately after winning a big pot, especially if the winning player had just sat down at the table. It is one of the unwritten poker etiquette rules.
A casino employee, however, informed the court that the self-described professional poker player had been suspended from Hippodrome in September 2013 due to “a number of unpleasant interactions with staff and concerns about problem gambling, and barred him from entering or gambling at its casino.”
Dr Sahibzada, a former engineering researcher, has $17,000 in live tournament cashes recorded by The Hendon Mob, but no results since 2018.
He argued that his actions don’t go against proper poker etiquette, and instead he “was just being extremely disciplined in my strategy,” He then told the judge the players who disapprove of his hit-and-run tactics are racially discriminating against him, and he cited the 2010 Equality Act, which legally protects individuals from discrimination, harassment, and victimization in the workplace and wider society in the United Kingdom.
“They don’t like foreigners winning, which is how they see me – although I’m not actually a foreigner,“ he said.
Judge Andrew Holmes, however, told the poker player there is no basis for the discrimination claims. The judge then informed Sahibzada that “the casino is entitled to decide who does or doesn’t come within its premises and use its services,” and threw out the case.
Even worse for the banned poker player, Judge Holmes ordered Sahibzada to pay the casino £11,000 in legal fees.
Hippodrome has played host to numerous big poker events over the years, including the PokerStars at The Hippodrome Winter Series last year. The card room, located on the casino’s third floor, does not have a rule against hit-and-runs.
*Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and photographer Ank Kumar.