Professional poker player Scott Robbins has settled his lawsuit against the Borgata Hotel Casino in Atlantic City. In July, Robbins sued Borgata for $1.25 million after he was kicked out and banned for making a joke about suicide.
According to court records, the two parties reached an agreement on September 9. The amount of the award was not disclosed.
Robbins was checking into the hotel in September 2019 when an employee asked if he would prefer a room on a high or low floor, according to the suit. “If I had to jump from a low floor window, would I make it?” joked Robbins.
According to CardPlayer.com, the employee then “pleaded with Robbins not to jump,” and he “assured her that he was kidding.” After he reached his room on the 30th floor, the Millbury, Massachusetts native was met by security guards. They forced him to undergo a psychiatric evaluation to stay at the hotel. Robbins took an ambulance ride to a local hospital where he passed the exam. The trip to the hospital cost him nearly $2,000.
Upon returning to the hotel, his personal belongings had been removed from his room and he was informed that he received a lifetime ban over the comment.
Robbins later said he would lose $85,000 per year in poker earnings over the next decade as well as another $200,000 in sponsorship money due to the ban. He added $200,000 for false imprisonment, interference with prospective economic gain and libel.
He also pointed out that the hotel’s windows are more than an inch thick and do not open. But there was a suicide at the casino just a few months before when a 25-year-old jumped out of a 29th floor hotel room.
