Revel Casino Class Action Lawsuit Alleges Bogus Slot Machine Promotion

Atlantic City casino Revel AC Inc. has been hit with a third class action lawsuit over its “You Can’t Lose” slot machine promotion.

The Revel Casino class action lawsuit alleges that although the “You Can’t Lose” promotion purports to reimburse players for losses at the slot machine, the terms of the promotion are unfair — “[f]irst, you must lose more than $100 and all losses must be tracked by the use of a Revel Card during the losses,” the class action lawsuit says.

“Second, gamblers do not get refunded for their losses, they do not receive cash back for the cash they lost. They receive a casino loss refund coupon that may be used towards gambling on slots and electronic gaming machines again,” the class action further explains.

Lead plaintiff Howard Stern of Middletown, New Jersey, also claims in the Revel casino class action lawsuit that he lost $100 in credits when he did not return over the 20-weeks to obtain and play with his free slot play credits.

“The loss refund must be used over 20-week period in equal installments in coupons as an equal fraction of the losses,” Stern says in the class action lawsuit. “Finally, the requisite coupon period is spaced out over 20-weeks, thus forcing the consumer to come back to Revel for 20-weeks in a row to use their coupons or face losing even the  coupon  for each week in which they did not come back to play.”

Stern argues in his complaint that “[e]xposing those loss refund coupons to gambling odds as opposed to refunds in cash, almost certainly causes consumers to lose any alleged ‘refund’ making the offer illusory as best. ”

“In essence, even the chance to win back any of one’s losses in the illusory offer is based on a 20-week ‘use it or lose it’ policy.” Further and “[m]ost deceptive,” Stern argues, “[t]he ‘loss refund’ is given back as ‘free slot play,’ which must be used over 20-weeks in equal installments cannot be cashed out immediately. The consumer must win more than the weekly ‘free slot play’ to be able to cash out any winnings.”

The class action lawsuit alleges that Revel’s promotion violates New Jersey Consumer Laws, the Truth-in-Consumer Contract, Warranty and Notice Act, and is a breach of contract.

Stern seeks compensatory damages, damages for violations of New Jersey law, as well as fees and costs, and to prohibit Revel from advertising and using electronic gambling.

The radio personality is seeking to represent a class of individuals, who lost over $100 while playing slot machines at Revel during the promotion.

Revel Casino had been experiencing financial difficulties and structured the promotion as a part of its efforts to recover from bankruptcy and a $1.3 billion debt. Slot machine play increased 32 percent in July 2013 after the “You Can’t Lose” promotion was rolled out. However, the casino has been sued several times since the promotion.

The plaintiff is represented by Gary S. Graifman of Kantrowitz Goldhamer & Graifman PC and Michael S. Green of Green & Associates LLC.

The Revel Slot Machine Class Action Lawsuit is Howard Stern v. Revel AC Inc., et al., Case No. 14-cv-02056, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.