Louisiana Casinos Sued for Allegedly Helping Police Against Blackjack Player

A federal lawsuit has been filed against two Louisiana casinos and several police officers who are alleged to have conspired to identify an advantage blackjack player. The plaintiff claims that officers unlawfully detained him, confiscated his driver’s license and gave his personal information to casino security. Iowa Blackjack Player Accuses Louisiana Casinos of Civil Rights Violations Eric Michael Temeyer of Iowa filed the nine-count complaint on November 3 in the US District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. Defendants include Golden Nugget Lake Charles, L’Auberge Lake Charles and several law enforcement officers. The suit alleges civil rights violations, illegal searches, and civil conspiracy. The complaint says the incident began on November 2, 2025, when Temeyer was playing blackjack at L’Auberge. He reportedly remained at the property from about 5 p.m. until around 2:40 a.m. the next morning. At some point, casino employees requested identification from him, but he refused. When he tried to cash in about $2,800 worth of blackjack chips, a cashier reportedly refused to make the transaction without seeing his ID. Temeyer then visited the Golden Nugget Lake Charles, nearby. The security staff at the property also asked for his identification. He refused so employees told him to leave, and he did. Things got out of hand in the Golden Nugget parking lot when police officers approached Temeyer as he stood by his vehicle. The complaint says an officer asked for identification, but Temeyer asked whether police had legal grounds to request it. He was reportedly handcuffed, his pockets searched, and his driver’s license taken by an officer. The document was then turned over to a security employee from Golden Nugget, who took pictures of it and Temeyer’s license plate and car. Iowa Gambler Claims Casinos Shared His Data to Restrict Access The plaintiff says an officer got into his car without permission to check its vehicle identification number. During the incident, Temeyer did not leave the police car and was later released without a ticket or any criminal charges around 3:36 a.m. Later that day he came back to L’Auberge to collect his winnings from blackjack. At first, a cashier insisted on seeing identification. However, the employee was said to have completed the transaction after a telephone call without asking for any papers. Temeyer says this was a sign that casino staff had already obtained and shared his personal data. At the heart of the complaint are Louisiana laws that do not allow licensed gambling establishments to refuse service to customers who are just good at gambling. Temeyer said the casinos were attempting to identify him to limit his access as an advantage gambler. The suit does not explicitly acknowledge card counting, a strategy by which blackjack players can predict when better odds of winning exist based on the remaining cards. Card counting itself is not illegal. The lawsuit says targeting someone based on his or her ability would violate the law in Louisiana. The complaint also expresses concerns that casinos might share information on skilled gamblers using internal security systems, limiting their access to a number of properties. Temeyer is seeking compensatory damages and possibly punitive damages, as well as attorney’s fees. No monetary value was indicated.