Conviction overturned in blackjack case

This past week The Iowa Court of Appeals reversed the conviction of a man who was accused of cheating in blackjack. Mitchell Smith was convicted of prohibited gaming activities for increasing or ‘capping’ his bet after seeing his cards. That ruling has now been overturned.

The incident happened at the Riverside Casino and Golf Resort in 2006 while Smith was at the blackjack tables. Capping means that a player is adjusting a bet after learning they most likely have a better hand than the dealer, this of course gives the player an unfair advantage.

Smith was charged under the section of ‘intend to defraud, without having made a wager’ and ‘claims, collects or takes an amount of money or thing of greater value than the amount won’. The court overturned the first part of the conviction as Smith did not violate this section as he had placed a bet. The court found that he only violated the second part.

Smith stated that his chips reflected his actual winnings. The state is now looking to change the law for it to read ‘of greater value than the amount legitimately won’. The court found that the current code ‘does not cover Smith’s conduct in this case, and accordingly reverse the judgment and remand for dismissal of the charge.”

2009-10-09