According to this news story, a dealer at the Cal-Neva, a nasty low-roller dump in downtown Reno, is accused of stealing nine dollars from the casino. I am certainly not condoning theft, but let’s keep it in perspective. If an average citizen accused another average citizen of stealing nine dollars, the police would probably laugh and not even take a report. But because a casino is the victim, no public expense is spared. What a ridiculous waste of public resources. Assuming they are guilty, the crooked dealers should be fired, but involving a public agency in something so petty? Come on, be serious. The Gaming Control Board should have higher priorities, like protecting PATRONS from casino wrongdoing. The Venetian cheaters got away scot-free, but their employer was fined a million dollars. What they did was far worse than what these low-level employees in Reno are accused of doing. Why the difference in enforcement action taken? And why doesn’t the board go after the thugs who have committed violent crimes against patrons? Oh, I see. When casino thugs assault patrons, the casino is not the victim, so the crimes are ignored. But for nine dollars allegedly stolen from Cal-Neva, thousands of taxpayer dollars will be wasted. The Gaming Control Board should be ashamed of itself.
>a nasty low-roller dump in downtown Reno,
Irrespective of truth of your comments about the casino, it is a casino and its actions reflect upon the entire industry. Nine dollars probably means slightly more at the CalNeva than at The Venetian, but its still only nine lousy dollars no matter what sort of a casino is involved.
>I am not condoning theft, but let’s keep it in perspective.
Ah perspective! Well, if the casino spotted the dealer making an honest mistake involving nine dollars it probably wouldn’t even say anything. The casino wouldn’t slow the game down by talking to the dealer at that time but might mention it to him later. If a player either made a mistake or “took a shot” involving nine dollars the casino might well consider it too costly to interrupt the flow of the game over a paltry sum.
So even if the casino would let the nine dollars slide in many circumstances, the taxpayer is going to be held to massive wasteful expenditure of resources over that lousy nine dollars!
>What a ridiculous waste of public resources.
Agreed. Protecting the industry by protecting the gaming public should be the goal, but the Board only makes a fool of itself by trying to garner good publicity for itself over nine dollars.
>the Board should have higher priorities, like protecting PATRONS from casino wrongdoing.
Agreed.
“…The Venetian cheaters got away scot-free, but their employer was fined a million dollars. What they did was far worse than what these low-level employees in Reno are accused of doing…”
Well, corporate white-collar criminals generally do comit far more serious offenses than the petty thief who winds up in prison.
“…When casino thugs assault patrons, the casino is not the victim, so the crimes are ignored.”
Only by the Board, not by the patrons. Not for long!! Eventually the casinos will start to suffer from such things. When public confidence is eroded, public participation will fall. The Board can step in promptly and protect the industry by coming down hard on the casino or the Board can sit back and await a disenchanted public coming down hard on the casino. The Venetian slap on the wrist, the thugs, the nine-dollar farce… they all will eventually have an effect on the gambling public. Nine dollars when times are bad for the dealer? Its going to be far more than nine dollars when times get bad for the casinos because the public starts to react to things like this. The members of the public are not dumb, they are just often slower to react, but once the backlash starts it will be the casinos that suffer.
>The Gaming Control Board should be ashamed of itself.
Thats for sure. And for a variety of reasons!
“…a dealer at the Cal-Neva, a nasty low-roller dump in downtown Reno, is accused of stealing nine dollars from the casino.”
Well, if there is going to be thousands of taxpayer dollars wasted on this, I hope that atleast the lawyer for the dealer uses this opportunity to show what the toke rate is for the dealers in the ‘nasty low-roller dump’. It is the casino executives that create the ‘nasty low-roller dump’ and perhaps now the publicity about this wasteful use of Board resources will shine the light of day on some other sins of the industry.
Being from NY I can’t comment on the laws in NV, but here a lot of times you are stuck going after the $9.00 people even if you were looking for somebody else.
To explain, you KNOW you have an employee stealing $1000’s of dollars. You put in camera equipment to catch them. While reviewing the tapes you see another employee stealing $9.00. BOTH have to be arrested and have charges pressed against them or they both walk. No favorites. Could this be something similar? Were they looking for a larger problem saw this and had to act? I don’t know.
-Dave
Nine Dollars???
How about one measely quarter???
See full article at Las Vegas Sun bylined
Liz Benston Oct 10, 2008
Nevada law allows gamblers to dispute the outcome of any game, for any reason.
While playing slots at the Orleans earlier this year, Sciannameo won $8.50. He believed his meager winnings should have also included the return of his 25 cent wager.
So he did what any gambler in Nevada is entitled to do: He put up a fight.
Thursday, the Gaming Control Board denied Sciannameo’s claim to the extra 25 cents. But at no point did the Gaming Control Board call him a nuisance.
“People should have the right to appeal to an independent regulatory authority,” board member Mark Clayton said. “This maintains the public’s confidence in gaming.”
When he put his money in an electronic roulette machine, he expected it to perform like a traditional table game in which winners receive their original wager plus winnings.
Had Sciannameo been playing actual roulette, he would have received his bet back in addition to winnings. Not so with this roulette machine, which stated 34-to-1 odds and paid him the value of 34 quarters, or $8.50.
Most complaints involve slot machines that gamblers believe have hit a jackpot but instead have malfunctioned.
A few years ago, a gambler at a race and sports book claimed winnings of 57 cents based on the customer’s reading of the odds. That customer is still out the 57 cents.
I really have no issue with gaming regulators nabbing anyone at all who steals….I am a former casino exec and really have no problems with it…What I would like to see is a REAL effort to clean up Thoroughbred and Harness Racing in this country instead of regulators turning blind eyes on a daily basis. The amount of stealing that goes on in that industry is an atrocity. People (regular lay people / bettors) are for a lack of a better word being “Raped” daily….when are we going to start putting pool manipulators and racing officials / stewards in jail….? All they have to do is start questioning anything that does not look right and they will have plenty to do…..it’s not being done which says to me that most racing commssions in this country are either completely incompetent or they are part of the fraudulent activity….which is it ?