Fake Chips Bought Him Prison Time

The story of Christian Lusardi and the counterfeit poker chips is one that is now notorious within the poker world. The 43-year-old was playing in the 2014 Borgata Winter Open Big Stack, No Limit Hold 'Em in Atlantic City, New Jersey, which was cancelled in its late stages when news of Lusardi’s counterfeit chips surfaced.

Lusardi attempted to literally flush away the evidence by putting the fake chips down the toilet of his hotel room at Harrah’s Hotel Casino. His little mission backfired on him, though, as the chips ended up damaging the hotel’s pipes and were soon recovered by law enforcement officers, who subsequently arrested and charged Lusardi.

He subsequently pleaded guilty for to second-degree trademark counterfeiting and third-degree criminal mischief in August and was told that he could face up to five years imprisonment for the crimes. That was exactly what happened late last week as the North Carolina native was give the maximum punishment for the ordeal.

Lusardi will also be hit in the hip pocket as he was order by the court to pay the Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa a total of US$463,540 to cover costs of the revenue it lost as a result of cancelling the event. He will also have to reimburse the Borgata US$9,455 for costs to repair pipes that were damaged when Lusardi attempted to flush his counterfeit chips down the toilet.

The prison sentence and financial punishments were the culmination of a bad run of events by Lusardi. Before his infamous poker counterfeiting scheme, he was also part of a major international global DVD counterfeiting operation, which led to Lusardi being sentenced to another five years of jail earlier this year.

The Borgata Hotel and Casino has implemented stricter security measures to prevent more counterfeiting measures following the incident’s aftermath. Such measures include using more colours on its poker chips as well as using an ”authentication element” that makes their chips identifiable under UV light.