Robert Nersesian – Card Counting Lawyer

Robert is a devoted lawyer who has dedicated many years of
his life to studying gambling related laws in order to bring
justice to card counters who have been treated poorly by the
casinos of Las Vegas. Although he often finds himself
representing professional blackjack players, he has helped out
other types of players as well.

Unlike most lawyers, he’s not intimidated by the casinos, and
he will do whatever it takes to make sure players’ rights aren’t
being violated. Although he has never played blackjack a day in
his life, he still was inducted into the Blackjack Hall of Fame
in recognition of all of his hard work.

Obtaining a Good Education

When Robert graduated from high school, he was unsure about
what he wanted to do with his life. He transferred to several
different colleges in Michigan before settling down at Western
Michigan University where he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree
in Economics and Pre-Law. Even though a double major is quite
impressive, Robert still wasn’t finished with his education.

Robert attended Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan
to complete both his master’s and doctorate’s degree in law. In
1986, he passed the Nevada State Bar Exam and was ready to live
out his dream of becoming a lawyer. He teamed up with a man
named Thea Sankiewicz to open up their first law firm,
appropriately named “Nersesian and Sankiewicz.”

Being an Advocate for Blackjack Players

One reason why these men decided to open up their office in
Las Vegas was because they recognized there was a steadily
growing problem in the casinos. Card counters everywhere were
claiming that they were being mistreated, while casinos tried
claiming that they were doing everything according to law.

The State of Nevada’s law clearly states that counting cards
isn’t illegal, but it also states that casinos have the right to
ask these players to leave their facilities. The problem that
casinos were running into was that they weren’t just asking
these players to leave, but they were also physically abusing
them. Other attorneys try to stay away from cases like these, as
they know how time-consuming and messy they can be. Robert and
Thea were more than ready for the challenges set before them,
however.

These two men also realized that whenever casinos and
blackjack players were involved, there was a lot of money to be
made. They opened one of the first law firms that catered
specifically to clients who had been assaulted by the casinos.
Robert spent months studying up on gambling relating laws,
casino policies, and previous cases that involved blackjack
players. His hours upon hours of studying paid off, and he’s now
known for the plethora of cases he has won for his clients.

Robert is proud of his high success rate, usually winning
thousands of dollars for each of his clients. In an interview
with Richard Munchkin, he said,

“I don’t want to put
down hard numbers, but the patron generally walks away with
$5,000 – $15,000. That is provided all the i’s are dotted and
t’s are crossed. What I mean by that is there aren’t other
reasons for what happened.”

Now that Robert and his partner are established, they are
very particular about what clients they accept and what clients
they choose not to represent. As a rule of thumb, if a client is
suing a casino simply because they were barred from their
facilities, Robert refuses to take them. However if the client
has been escorted to a backroom, or has been physically abused
in any way, he will happily accept them.

Infamous Cases

The law firm of Nersesian and Sankiewicz files a new lawsuit
at least once every two weeks, averaging a total of fifty cases
in progress at all times. Many of the cases are handled
privately between clients and casinos, but every so often the
cases will make it to a court setting.

Nersesian and Sankiewicz handled the infamous James Grosjean
cases. James had been treated poorly by not one but two casinos.
The first offense occurred in Caesar Palace where James was
playing 3-card poker with his friend, Michael Russo. They were
both using card counting techniques to gain an edge over the
casinos. Although they were technically doing nothing illegal,
they were escorted out of the casino, detained for five hours,
and thrown into jail. Michael was imprisoned for only one day
while James was imprisoned for five days.

This was one of the first major cases that Robert was a part
of, and he did an excellent job in defending his clients. In the
end, Russo and Grosjean were both awarded actual damages of
$25,000 and the court found that Griffin Investigations and
Caesars Palace would be subject to punitive damages as well.

It was Robert’s second case in representing James Grosjean
that he’s most well known for. Before James even sat down at the
blackjack tables of Imperial Casino, it was obvious that he
wasn’t welcomed there. He got up to leave, being followed by
security as he exited the building. Once outside the casino, the
guards grabbed James and whipped him into a brick wall. He was
then taken into a backroom of the casino and forced to place all
of his personal belongings on the table. He was detained there
against his will until the end of the night.

James Grosjean hadn’t done anything wrong in this situation,
but his rights certainly had been violated. Thanks to the
security footage Robert was able to get a hold of, he was easily
able to win the case against Imperial Casino. His client was
awarded $399,000, and Robert was truly able to feel like justice
was served. Ever since this case was settled, Robert became most
players’ lawyer of choice, often being referred to as, “Counsel
for the Players.”

Robert doesn’t win every case he’s a part of, but he does try
his best. In 2008, he took on Tsao as his client: a member of
the MIT Blackjack Team. She wanted to file a civil rights
complaint against Desert Palace because she had been falsely
imprisoned when they discovered she was counting cards. This
case was quickly moved from Nevada’s court system to the federal
court system. In the end Robert and Tsao lost the court case,
because it was discovered that Tsao had refused to give the
police officer any form of identification; therefore giving him
probable cause to detain her.

Advice for Card Counters in Tricky Situations

As a lawyer, Robert knows what card counters should do and
what they should avoid doing in almost every situation. He
freely gives out this legal advice to all players in order to
make his job easier in the long run. Those who follow his advice
are almost guaranteed to win the case when the casinos make poor
decisions.

First and foremost, players need to be honest with casino
authorities when it comes to who they are and what they are
doing. Using fake ids or being unwilling to give an authority
figure your name will not hold up well in court. When using an
invalid form of identification, players almost always will lose
the case.

If a card counter is detained, they should firmly express to
the casino personnel that they have no desire to follow them
anywhere. If the person doesn’t agree to be taken into the
backroom and this is caught on video, Robert can use this
information in their defense. Most video cameras outside of the
casinos have no audio, so it’s important that players repeat
themselves once they are escorted to the backroom.

Another thing the player can do is to calmly ask the casino
why they are being detained. Detaining a player on the account
of card counting is illegal, but if they have any reason to
believe that the player is using a counting device to get ahead,
then this is perfectly acceptable. Those who can get a security
guard to admit that they are being detained on suspicions of
card counting will have a better chance of winning their court
case.

Robert advises players to not run away from the casino
authorities, as this doesn’t make them look good in the court of
law. Players often run away because they are fearful of being a
part of a backroom experience, but casinos will twist their
actions to make them look guilty of a crime they didn’t commit.
He also suggests that card counters avoid physical violence at
all cost, even if it is in the act of self defense. Chances are
if the card counter physically assaults a security guard, it is
them that will be convicted of a crime, no matter who threw the
first punch.

Beat the Players: Casinos, Cops and the Game Inside the Game

Beat the Players: Casinos, Cops and the Game Inside the Game
was first published in 2006 by Pi Ye Press: a company founded by
the Blackjack Hall of Fame member, Stanford Wong. In this book,
Nersesian talks about specific cases where he has won thousands
of dollars for his clients.

The chapters included in this book are as follows: Your Money
or Your Liberty, Scary Cop Statements, They’ll Take Your Liberty
Anyway, Gaming Agents Speak, The Take of the State, Rules for
Casino Patrons, Gambling at the Legal Limits, Cops Hate Card
Counters, Griffin Investigations, Casinos Cheat With Impunity, A
Judicial and Government Overlay, Finding a Nickel Brings
Trouble, Names and Aliases, The Security Office and Surveillance
Functions, and Casinos and Cops.

This book was written in a simplified language that everyone
should be able to follow. He explains what both the casino’s
rights and responsibilities are compared to what the rights and
responsibilities of the players are. He goes into detail about
what the law states in conjunction to what the casinos actually
do that is illegal. This book focused on the game of blackjack,
but players of other casino games are mentioned too.

This book is very graphic, including detailed stories of
horrible events that have occurred at the casinos. Sometimes
casino employees were in the wrong, while other times it was
Nevada Gaming Control Board that had been abusing their power.
Some of these stories have never been released to the public
before, so they may come as a surprise to many.

Blackjack Hall of Fame

In 2011, Robert Nersesian was in the running for being
inducted into the Blackjack Hall of Fame, losing to Zeljko
Ranogajec by just two votes. Two years later in 2013, Robert was
granted his spot in the Blackjack Hall of Fame for working so
hard to protect the rights of innocent card counters. He’s one
of the few lawyers that recognize these players as individuals
with rights instead of simply criminals. The Nersesian and
Sankiewicz law firm are still accepting clients today, working
hard to protect player’s rights.

In his honor and upon receiving the award, Richard Munchkin
said,

“Bob has certainly affected the lives of
professional gamblers all across the United States. The way
casinos have changed the way they treat us is directly
attributable to Bob. We still have a long way to go, but Bob
will be leading the charge.”

Players all over the
United States appreciate Robert and the positive influence he
has had in the casinos.

Thanks to Robert Nersesian, casinos everywhere have been
changing the way they handle card counters, realizing that
threatening them and abusing them will more than likely lead to
legal issues. The Nevada Gaming Control Board has also done a
better job of monitoring casinos that are known to be violent
towards their players.

Robert happily offers to hold conferences with casinos to
train them on how to lawfully handle a wide variety of
situations that come up. He shows them what the laws clearly
state and reveals practical ways to implement them. Basically he
helps them avoid situations that would more than likely result
in a lawsuit. Most lawyers hope places will continue to do
things illegally so that they can continue to make money off of
them, but Robert truly wants justice to be served.