02/11/04 4:16 pm EST

Hampton Casino Takes A Stand

"If you don't like our rules and regulations, nobody is holding a gun to your head forcing you to play at our casino," Ron Lewin stated, referencing their in-place policy restricting the use of automated software for playing purposes.

Lewin's entire argument centers on the fact that his rules overstep all other aspects of this case, hence protecting his company. 

Folks like Brian Cullingworth, online casino players advocate and the man behind a very popular INFOPOWA industry newsletter that is featured at the Sports911.com website, believe otherwise.

"What technical proof they have that a bot was
being used to their detriment?" Cullingworth asks, suggesting Hampton has not come forward with such evidence.

And indeed, Lewin refuses to do so.

"We do have the proof that this guy cheated" Lewin insists.  "But which outside party are we supposed to present this proof to?  There are no regulatory bodies in this industry."

In portions of the phone conversation we listened to between Mr. Lewin and the player, Mr. Lewin seems to imply on a few occasions that private investigators were brought in.  The player does appear dumbfounded by some of the information Lewin provides to him, chiefly regarding the player's past history and employment, which the player eventually all but confirms. 

Lewin also states that it is impossible for a human being to hit the exact same pixel on a computer screen three times in a row, let alone thousands of times in a row as this robot allegedly did. 

"You have a better chance of winning the lottery," Lewin said.

But the most important proof of all comes from the players own admission via a taped phone conversation.  Herein lies part of the controversy.

Cullingworth is claiming "entrapment" in this case, citing the call itself, which has Lewin seemingly baiting the player into making a confession.

"The questions are how they (Hampton Casino) extracted this so-called confession," Cullingworth argues.  "Bear in mind that there are serious legal constraints on the use and results of entrapment."

Lewin does not deny baiting the player, quite the contrary.

"I baited him and told him he would not be paid.  I wanted that program and I warned him not to take this to the (online casino posting) boards or he would not see a dime of the money.  I was baiting him all along and he could have hung up the phone.  I did not force him to say anything.  Instead, he admitted to using a robot (in our casino) and is being punished for it.  Baiting happens all the time in a Court of Law.  I learned how to do this from watching a lot of Law and Order."

Cullingworth sees nothing proper with the way in which the phone conversation was conducted.

"If you listen to the tape made public by Hampton there is no doubt that the
overbearing and at times hectoring Hampton guy is *leading* the player into an admission based on getting big sums of money for this nebulous bot," insists Cullingworth.  "Allied to their other attempts to impose a retroactive wager thru requirement, Hampton is not looking good on this at all and they need to think a little more clearly and long-range."

But even Cullingworth agrees the player is far from making a strong case for himself.

"Both parties have behaved really badly here and the suggestion that they should take the dispute out of the public domain and into an independent legal assessment as part of a fair negotiation is probably the best course for everyone."

Cullingworth also points to Real Time Gaming's inability to conclude a robot had infiltrated their Caribbean 21 platform. 

"There's the argument that RTG (Real Time Gaming) was unable to find anything amiss, and
the fact that turnkey providers like Microgaming actually give players an autoplay robot in the Viper software - it doesn't prejudice the casino at all, just speeds up play and enables the player to do something else whilst he's wading through a wager-thru' requirement."

Lewin does not deny that Real Time Gaming was unable to find any evidence of a robot.  Instead, he admits RTG was prepared to pay out a quarter of a million dollars for the program had the player not gone to the message boards.

Reportedly this same player has struck a number of internet casinos using the Real Time Gaming platform in the past.  Among them: Breakaway Casino for $40,000; Delano Casino for over $100,000, $30,000 each from Prism and Virtual and $20,000 from Phoenician just to name a few.  

Amazingly, the player could have gotten off and taken advantage of several other online gaming ventures in the process.  What draws a man to do certain things may never quite be known, but in this case Cullingworth describes the player's actions as almost "surrealistic".

"They (Hampton Management) call him in an attempt to entrap the guy into an admission of robot play on a recorded call.  He (the player) is also recording it with neither side telling
the other and the result has to be heard to be believed  - they *lead* him into what could be construed as an admission along the lines I sent you this morning, and then point to their T&Cs which forbid robot play.  Never mind
that auto-play facilities are now a standard component in other companies software like Microgaming.  (They) disqualify his winnings.

"No doubt Delano will use the same excuse to hammer him on the $96K they are holding suspended too.  Then Hampton makes this astonishing public announcement admitting
their intention to entrap and giving access to edited sections of the tape, but also claiming that they have other evidence of a bot that is not being released because it is "...extremely technical.  And this player is still shouting his mouth off (the entire time)!  Truly - it is unbelievable."

Thus far, the taped phone call had not been released in full to any third party....that is until now.

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