## Facts

- Kenneth S. Uston used a lawful blackjack card-counting strategy that could improve his odds under then-existing blackjack rules.
- Resorts International Hotel, a licensed Atlantic City casino, excluded Uston from its blackjack tables beginning January 30, 1979, solely because of his card counting.
- No Casino Control Commission rule at the time prohibited card counting or authorized casinos to exclude patrons for using it.
- Uston sought access to play blackjack on the same terms as other patrons, arguing Resorts lacked authority to bar him for lawful, non-disruptive play.

## Issues

1. Whether the Casino Control Act grants the Casino Control Commission exclusive authority to regulate methods of play in licensed casino games, thereby preventing a casino from excluding a patron for card counting absent Commission action.
2. Whether, under New Jersey common law, a casino open to the public has an absolute right to exclude any person, or instead must allow reasonable access absent a valid reason related to order, security, or essential operations.

## Decision

- The New Jersey Supreme Court affirmed judgment for Uston and held Resorts could not exclude him for card counting under the circumstances.
- The Court held the Casino Control Act gives the Casino Control Commission exclusive authority to set casino game rules, including permissible methods of play; Resorts’ exclusion functioned as an unauthorized alteration of the game’s effective rules.
- The Court declined to decide whether the Commission could lawfully adopt a rule excluding card counters because the Commission had not done so.
- The Court rejected an absolute common-law right to exclude from a place of public amusement and held that property open to the public carries a duty of reasonable access.
- Because Uston’s conduct was lawful and non-disruptive, exclusion based only on card counting was unreasonable.

## Legal Principles

- When a legislature creates a comprehensive regulatory scheme governing a business open to the public, regulated entities may not unilaterally impose restrictions that effectively change regulated rules assigned to the agency.
- Under the New Jersey Casino Control Act, the Casino Control Commission has exclusive authority over casino game rules and methods of play.
- Owners who open premises to the general public for business purposes may not exclude members of the public unreasonably; patrons have a common-law right of reasonable access.
- A proprietor may exclude persons who pose genuine risks to safety, order, or the regular and essential operation of the premises (e.g., disorderly or dangerous patrons), but not merely because a patron uses lawful skill within the rules.

## Conclusion

The court held that a licensed casino could not bar a patron solely for lawful card counting because regulation of methods of play is reserved to the Casino Control Commission, and because New Jersey common law recognizes a right of reasonable public access to businesses open to the public absent a valid operational or security justification for exclusion.


Uston v. Resorts Int’l Hotel, Inc., 89 N.J. 163, 445 A.2d 370 (N.J. 1982)