The local gaming regulator unanimously supported banning a poker player from casinos in South Dakota.
according to Report From the Capitol News Bureau, poker player Rick Burleson was seeking to have his name removed from the list of people excluded. The South Dakota Gaming Commission said we don’t respond.
The commission on Wednesday reportedly rejected the request. Burleson and another poker player, Benjamin Palmer, were placed on the list in March after the late 2021 incident.
(Note: This person should not be confused with Ben Palmer who took over $3M in lifetime tournament winnings and won a World Series of Poker Tour title in 2019)
“The reason for disqualification is that you have engaged in fraudulent activity in association with a citywide city [Deadwood] Poker Tournament on or about October 23, 2021, by learning of Benjamin Palmer stealing an eleven-dollar poker tournament ticket at Silverado Casino and assisting Benjamin Palmer after the theft occurred.”
An excluded person who goes to a South Dakota casino may face up to a year in prison and a small fine. Burleson reportedly said he did not mean to cheat the casino. “I hate how it ruined my reputation,” he was quoted as saying.
Burleson admitted that Palmer gave him his admission ticket at Palmer’s house the day before the tournament. The ticket was accepted by the Silverado Poker Room when Burleson signed up. Burleson said he had been playing for several hours when the poker room manager approached him, telling him the ticket was invalid.
“I had no impression that this was fraudulent,” Burleson told the committee on Wednesday. He said Palmer was his financial backer for the event.
One agent testified that he interviewed Palmer and arrested him for his involvement in the scheme, according to the report. Palmer admitted to creating the ticket, according to the report.
Palmer reportedly showed the agent text messages between him and Burleson. After review, the Commission decided that the contents of the messages were sufficient to reject the request for removal from the list of excluded persons.
