The Bear Growls: Gaming Control Board embarrasses Nevada again
March 2, 2004
If anyone still thinks the Nevada Gaming Control Board has any interest in protecting the public, the Venetian situation should be proof that these “regulators” are just casino lapdogs. Venetian rigged contests and cheated patrons, and is fined only a million dollars? That’s chump change to it. Is this only one-fifth as bad as not mailing some forms, for which MGM was fined $5 million and the responsible employee criminally prosecuted?
Why are these crooked ex-employees of Venetian not in prison where they belong? I suppose this mild slap on the wrist is what we should expect from “regulators” who allow blackjack cheating devices (“Mindplay”) to be used by Nevada casinos, and allow 6 to 5 single deck sucker games to proliferate. It is no wonder that Nevada is becoming the laughingstock of the nation, and is steadily losing customers to other gaming destinations.
The fact that other casinos would hire these scamsters tells you all you need to know about those casinos. One of them is Las Vegas locals casino operator Station Casinos. As Green Chip member Coug Fan eloquently posted:
The casino industry really doesn’t need any enemies when it has people like this working for it. The spokesperson for the casino that hired them is basically saying “yes, they cheated customers but look at all their other great experience. They clearly deserve to be running another casino.” I also like the line about it being common practice for Las Vegas casinos to cheat patrons in this manner. If these are the official positions of senior casino executives, then I would be really scared to find what their true feelings are about following the law and offering fair games to the public.
…It is amazing that the general public has been completely duped into believing that organized crime no longer runs Vegas. The ethical level of today’s casino operators and regulators makes most mob bosses look like choir boys by comparison. The PR folks in (the casino) industry must be REALLY good.Well said.
It’s way past time for the governor to clean house on the Gaming Control Board, replacing the present three stooges with folks who will take their responsibilities to the public seriously, before Nevada’s reputation becomes so bad that it can never be repaired.
