NY Couple Sues Atlantic City Casino Over Slots Advertising
By Jim Melwert
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (CBS) -- A Long Island, NY couple is suing the Revel Casino-Hotel over a summer slots promotion that told gamblers any money they lost in slot machines would be refunded.
Attorney Joe Sauder says his clients -- Nicholas and Margaret Peragine of Lake Grove, NY -- went to the Revel Casino in Atlantic City after seeing ads for the slots promo on TV which included the lines, "All July long, we're going to refund all slot losses," and "We're going to make you an offer you can't refuse -- you can't lose."
They each lost $1,000. But the so-called "refund" is given as a slots credit with no cash value, it's spread over 20 weeks, and any credit not used for slots play in each of the 20 weeks is forfeited (see related story).
"They were basically luring people in, and they knew they were doing this, and it was really a desparate act," says Sauder, a partner with Chimicles & Tikellis in Haverford, Pa.
The fine print does explain the rules, but Souder says the disclaimer was nonexistent on radio, and only appeared for two seconds on TV.
"It's barely up at the end, it's unreadable, and at no point is there any voice over," Sauder says.
Revel has not responded to several requests for comment.
