Denise Ezell, a seasoned gambler, was elated after she won $127,000 from playing progressive blackjack at MGM Grand Detroit on October 30 last year. But her excitement later vanished after the casino refused to pay her the money she had won because she was allegedly trespassing, she said.
Ezell in an interview with FOX 2 Detroit claimed she was unaware the casino had banned her. She filed a civil lawsuit against MGM Grand Detroit in June. Ezell, 65, also recalled how she felt when she hit the $127,000 jackpot.
“I was like, ‘oh my god, I won! Oh sh–!’ Excuse my French,” she said. “It was exhilarating. I was down to my last bet, actually.”
RELATED STORIES
Ezell and her friend had gone on an unplanned visit to MGM Grand Detroit on the said date. In the wake of the excitement after she hit the jackpot, she was approached by security and was asked to provide her license. During that period of excitement, the 65-year-old Detroit native also recalled she had even started making plans on what she was going to use her winnings for.
Ezell, who had been working on a full-time basis since she was 14, said the amount she won “would get me out of debt, I could help my daughter, and look out for my family.”
But the excitement dwindled to nothing after a casino employee returned and spoke with her. She said the employee told her, “‘Well Ms. Ezell, we unfortunately won’t be paying you.’” “I’m like ‘What the f-,'” Ezell told FOX 2 Detroit. “I don’t want to say that on TV, but I was like ‘What?’”
Ezell was informed by security at MGM Grand that she was trespassing because of her alleged involvement in a 2015 panhandling incident. Ezell’s attorney, Ivan Land, said the alleged incident stemmed from a disagreement involving the 65-year-old and her cousin at the casino. Land said the issue between Ezell and her cousin was over cash, and the 65-year-old was told to stay away from the casino for 24 hours.
Ezell told the news outlet that she was unaware she had been banned, adding that she had even patronized MGM Grand on multiple occasions since 2015. “She didn’t receive an email, mail, telephone call,” Land claimed. “She had no knowledge that she was banned from this casino, and I don’t believe she was banned from the casino.”
Ezell has not visited the casino after the October 30 incident. She also filed a lawsuit after she couldn’t find a solution with MGM. “When I go and lose, nobody asks for my license, what my name is – none of that,” Ezell said. “But I win and all this?”
“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 also told the Detroit Free Press. “We know the casinos always win.”
