Saturday, April 21, 2001
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Player barred from Series

Horseshoe brass cites critical comments as reason for dismissal

Binion's Horseshoe management barred a Las Vegas professional poker player from the casino Friday morning, citing critical comments the player made in a Thursday news story.

Security officers removed Paul Phillips from a poker game just after midnight and barred him from the casino, Horseshoe director of security Kevin Knippel said Friday.

Knippel said that Phillips was barred, or "86ed," from the casino because Horseshoe management wanted to eliminate controversy from the World Series of Poker tournament, which began Friday.

"Phillips didn't do or say anything on the property," Knippel said, explaining it was his reported comments in a Review-Journal story that prompted his removal.

Phillips will not be allowed to return to the Horseshoe to play in the World Series, Knippel said, although he acknowledged property owner Becky Behnen may allow him back in the casino if he apologizes to her for his comments.

Phillips' critical comments about Behnen centered on her advertised plan to divide a 3 percent portion of prize money among tournament personnel.

"The players have, at a minimum, been misled," Paul Phillips said Wednesday.

"When people hear that 3 percent of the prize pool has been withheld, they expect it to go to the dealers and tournament floor personnel," Phillips continued. "If Binion's wants to supplement the salaries of its employees, they should raise the entry fees rather than subtract from the prize pool.

"There is a lot of unrest, a lot of dissatisfaction, but the WSOP has a lot of tradition and prestige," he finished. "If the tournament continues antagonizing players, it will be hurt in future years."

Behnen includes a wide variety of Horseshoe employees in her definition of tournament personnel, including cashiers, payroll clerks and computer operators as well as tournament dealers and poker floor supervisors.

Many poker players, including Phillips, believe the only tournament personnel who should receive a cut are dealers and floor supervisors.

Behnen and Phillips were unavailable for comment Friday, but a posting under his name to the Internet news group rec.gambling.poker said: "I was given no reason or explanation, but there isn't much doubt that it was due to my comments quoted in the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

"I was removed from (the poker) game by an anonymous member of the staff and his henchman. They hustled me into an office containing a dozen burly men, where they snapped my photo and read me a prepared statement to the effect that my presence at the Horseshoe would now be considered criminal trespass. I was then allowed to leave."

An executive at Card Player, a leading poker-industry magazine, said poker players are upset about Phillips' removal, but were reluctant to talk to the news media.

"No one wants to be barred," said the executive, who did not want to be identified.

A player outside the Horseshoe Friday said he wasn't sure if the controversy would affect entries for this year's tournament.

"Well, if they want to shut everyone up, they did," said the player, who requested anonymity. "But they also pissed a lot of us off."

Knippel said top Horseshoe management made the decision to bar Phillips.

The security boss said the removal was a preventive measure to minimize the growing controversy.

"We don't want to have someone disrupt what we're trying to do," he explained.