An Australian casino player is taking Royal Caribbean to court after the cruise line banned him from sailing and from its casinos over card counting, arguing the exclusion amounts to unlawful discrimination against a skill-based player. The Royal Caribbean card counting case follows the punter's earlier legal victory against Star Casino in Australia.
Mark Timothy Grant, who previously won a legal battle with Star Casino over similar exclusion practices, now confronts the cruise operator over its decision to bar him from its ships and onboard gaming floors because he counts cards at blackjack.
Can a Casino Ban You for Counting Cards?
Card counting occupies a contested legal position worldwide. It is not cheating — no device, no collusion, no manipulation — just arithmetic applied to publicly visible cards. Yet casinos treat it as grounds for exclusion, arguing private establishments may refuse service. The tension produces different outcomes across jurisdictions: some courts have sided with players on discrimination-style grounds, while most US venues freely back off or ban counters as a private-business right.
Grant's Australian precedent matters: his win against Star established that exclusion of a lawful, skill-based player can carry legal consequences there. Extending that logic to a cruise line raises a new wrinkle — Royal Caribbean bans him from the entire ship, not just the casino, meaning a gambling-related exclusion also bars him from a transportation service he otherwise paid for and used lawfully.
Cruise Casinos and the Jurisdiction Grey Zone
Cruise ship casinos operate in a peculiar legal space: international waters, flag-state regulation, and contractual boarding terms that give operators wide latitude. That latitude is exactly what the lawsuit will test. A ruling against the cruise line would send ripples through an industry where onboard casinos are significant profit centres and operators routinely exclude advantage players.
For advantage players globally, the case is the latest chapter in a long standoff with the industry's core asymmetry: casinos celebrate skill when players lose and punish it when players win.
What Happens Next
Watch for Royal Caribbean's defence arguments — likely centred on contract terms and private-business rights — and the court's framing of whether a sea-based gambling exclusion can stand where a land-based one fell.
Follow gambling litigation on our casino news hub, read about the Star regulatory saga, or explore casino operators. Cruise line information is available from Royal Caribbean.
