Last year, a woman at MGM Grand Detroit won the lottery of a lifetime; nevertheless, she was compelled to sue the casino instead of receiving her winnings.
Even though Denise Ezell from Detroit is an experienced gambler, she was taken aback when, on October 30, 2023, she won $127,000 at MGM Grand while playing progressive blackjack.
“I was like, ‘oh my god, I won! Oh sh–!’ Excuse my French,” 65-year-old Ezell stated. “It was exhilarating. I was down to my last bet, actually.”
It all began with an unplanned excursion she took with one of her pals to the casino. After a hard night, she struck it lucky at MGM Grand, and celebration broke out.
Security arrived shortly after and demanded to see Ezell’s license. from she had worked full-time from the age of 14, she had already started to plan what she would do with the victory.
$127,000 “would get me out of debt, I could help my daughter, and look out for my family,” she stated.
As the casino declined to pay her, all of that thrill vanished.
A another worker from the casino returned “and informed Ms. Ezell that she would not be receiving her money. I’m thinking, “What the f-?” Ezell narrated. “I don’t want to say that on TV, but I was like ‘What?’”
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Ezell was informed by MGM Grand security that she was trespassing because of a purported panhandling incident that occurred in 2015. At the time, Ezell and her cousin got into a fight at the casino over some money, according to her attorney, Ivan Land, and she was ordered to leave for 24 hours.
She claims, though, that she was unaware of her prohibition. Since 2015, she had returned to the MGM Grand numerous times.
“She didn’t receive an email, mail, telephone call,” Land stated. “She had no knowledge that she was banned from this casino, and I don’t believe she was banned from the casino.”
Since October 30, when she first visited the Detroit casino, Ezell has not returned, referring to it as “devil’s night.”
This week, following multiple dead ends with MGM, Ezell launched a civil lawsuit.
“When I go and lose, nobody asks for my license, what my name is – none of that,” Ezell stated. “But I win and all this?”
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