Denise Ezell, a 65-year-old Detroit native, experienced a mix of joy and disappointment after winning a substantial $127,000 jackpot at MGM Grand Detroit while playing progressive blackjack. Her excitement quickly turned sour when casino officials informed her that they would not be paying her the winnings, alleging she was trespassing.
According to Ezell, the casino claimed she was banned due to a 2015 incident involving a dispute with her cousin, which resulted in a temporary exclusion from the premises. Despite Ezell’s assertion that she had no knowledge of any ban and had frequented the casino multiple times since 2015 without incident, MGM Grand Detroit refused to honor her jackpot.
In a civil lawsuit filed against the casino in June, Ezell and her attorney, Ivan Land, argued that the lack of prior notification about the ban and the casino’s willingness to accept her gambling losses over the years without questioning her presence raises questions about fairness and transparency in their policies.
“I was down to my last bet, actually,” Ezell recalled of the moment she hit the jackpot, describing the exhilaration quickly dashed by the casino’s refusal to pay out. “They allowed her to gamble there and spend her hard-earned money for eight years, and then, when she hits the jackpot, they run this crap, ‘Hey, you shouldn’t be here in the first place?'” Land commented, highlighting the perceived inconsistency in the casino’s treatment of patrons.
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Ezell’s case underscores broader issues of customer rights and casino policies, raising questions about how establishments manage bans and communicate them to their customers effectively. The outcome of her lawsuit against MGM Grand Detroit could potentially set a precedent for similar disputes in the future, impacting how casinos handle bans and payouts across the industry.
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