(Indianapolis, Ind.) - Grand Victoria Casino has won a lawsuit that went all the way to the Indiana Supreme Court.

Grand Victoria Casino in Rising Sun

Indianapolis resident Thomas Donovan had sued Grand Vic after he was booted from the Rising Sun riverboat for counting cards as he played Blackjack in 2006.

Donovan, who filed the suit in Marion Circuit Court, argued there is no state law that prohibits card counting. However, in their 3-1 decision Thursday the Supreme Court justices said the casino has the common law right to refuse service to anyone.

Donovan had appealed and won in the Indiana Court of Appeals after the Marion Circuit Court judge ruled in favor of Grand Victoria. The casino then took the case to the state’s highest court.

In the majority opinion, Justice Frank Sullivan, Jr. wrote, “An owner of an Indiana business has long had the absolute right to exclude a visitor or customer, subject only to applicable civil rights laws. This long-standing common law right of private property owners extends to the operator of a riverboat casino that wishes to exclude a patron for employing strategies designed to give the patron a statistical advantage over the casino. The Riverboat Gambling Act, which gives the Indiana Gaming Commission exclusive authority to set the rules of licensed casino games, does not abrogate this common law right.”