Horseshoe Baltimore Card Counter Files $3M Unlawful Detention Lawsuit Against Casino
A man from Connecticut, recognized by casinos nationwide as a card counter, has filed a lawsuit against Horseshoe Baltimore and its parent company, Caesars Entertainment, claiming illegal detention.
Jordan Kerr, a resident of Connecticut in North Haven, claims in a lawsuit initially filed in Baltimore City Circuit Court that security personnel at Caesars’ Baltimore location unlawfully held him during the early morning hours of Friday, Oct. 18, 2024. In his lawsuit, which has now been transferred to the federal District Court in Maryland, Kerr alleges that a Horseshoe shift supervisor requested identification from him while he was sitting at a blackjack table at approximately 12:30 a.m.
Kerr informed the woman that he would exercise his right to remain anonymous and exit the premises rather than present identification. Nonetheless, as he approached the exit, Kerr claims he was encircled by casino security staff and was told that he was being held and could not exit.
"The Horseshoe security supervisor and a Horseshoe special police officer told Kerr that he would be arrested and placed in handcuffs if he did not go to the casino’s back room with them. In the face of the threats from Horseshoe personnel that they would commit unlawful physical battery against him if he did not go with them, Kerr proceeded to walk with them to the casino’s back room,” the complaint alleged.
Kerr states he was instructed to sit and wait for the arrival of the Baltimore City Police. City officials never arrived.
Illegal Detention Lawsuit
Kerr identifies as an "advantage player," which refers to a proficient blackjack player who employs legal strategies to secure a mathematical edge over the casino. Casinos identify these players as card counters, employing a blackjack technique to assess whether the dealer holds an edge on the upcoming card.
Although card counting is not against the law, most casinos forbid it and will exclude those believed to be counting cards. Kerr states he felt low after playing blackjack at Horseshoe Baltimore for four hours of gambling.
After spending around 15 minutes in the casino's back room, Kerr states in his lawsuit that the head of security informed him that city police would not be arriving. Kerr asserts that he was informed of the casino's trespassing policy prior to being told that his detention was concluded and he was allowed to exit.
"Kerr did not do anything wrong or illegal to justify being detained against his will and deprived of his liberty by Horseshoe casino and its personnel,” his complaint read. “As a result of Horseshoe casino’s false imprisonment of Kerr and battery they committed against him, Kerr has suffered loss of liberty, outrage, mortification, mental anguish, emotional distress, anxiety, loss of sleep, and hedonic injury.”
Kerr is pursuing $3 million in damages for two charges of false imprisonment and battery.
Horseshoe Requests Dismissal
This is not the initial occasion that Kerr has filed a lawsuit against a casino for wrongful detention. In 2018, he filed a similar lawsuit against Caesars New Orleans, formerly called Harrah’s, over analogous complaints. That situation was resolved without going to trial.
Lawyers for Caesars and Horseshoe Baltimore assert that there “is no legal or factual foundation for punitive damages” and have asked Maryland District Court Judge Julie Rebecca Rubin to dismiss the case with prejudice, holding Kerr responsible for the defendants’ legal expenses.
