Detroit Woman Denied $127K Jackpot by MGM Grand for ‘Trespassing’ Now Suing Casino

Denise Ezell claims she's been going to the casino regularly since 2015.

A Detroit woman won a $127,000 jackpot while playing progressive blackjack at the MGM Grand in Detroit last October. It’s July, and she still hasn’t received her winnings, so she is suing the casino.

According to the Detroit Free Press, 65-year-old Denise Ezell thought she was walking out of the casino she frequented with her winnings but remarked, “I walked out of there penniless.”

In the lawsuit, she stated that she and a friend were at the venue when she won a side bet while playing progressive blackjack on October 30. She was then told by the casino that she would not be getting any money because she was trespassing.

Although she had visited the place every week since 2015, she said she was never informed that she was a trespasser.

“I had no clue as to what the hell they were talking about!” Ezell said. “Do you think I would have gone down there and spent my money for eight years, knowing I was trespassing?”

She was told that it was from an incident that took place in 2015. The casino accused Ezell of panhandling and ordered her out of the building. She said it was a misunderstanding. Ezell attended that day with her cousin. When they gambled together, if one ran out of money, the other would supply the one who needed it with some cash. She was on the losing end and asked her cousin for some money and was rejected, which led to the two of them arguing.

“A security guard came up and said, ‘You’re bothering this patron,'” Ezell recalled. “I said, ‘This is my god—- cousin.'” But, the security guard didn’t believe her and allegedly told her: “‘You have to leave. You’re panhandling.'”

After leaving, she said she was never given notice that she may have been banned from the casino. She claimed she returned to the MGM Grand two weeks later and has been a regular since.

On the night she won the jackpot, she said people were congratulating her when the pit boss approached her and requested a player’s card or her driver’s license. She was then informed that she wasn’t eligible to take home the money.

Ezell’s attorney, Ivan Land, said, “We wasted three months trying to get action.”

“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 said. “We know the casinos always win.”