.jpg "Casablanca Casino in Mesquite")
A gambler enters a Las Vegas casino from which he has already been banned. He orders a cocktail, plays the slot machine, and wins the jackpot. Despite the trespass, the stubborn gambler is awarded the money under Nevada’s current gaming regulations.
This is the scenario some casinos are facing, and the Nevada Board of Control is now considering some changes to prevent casino-goers from running out of pocket.
“I think it’s bad policy,” retired Las Vegas Municipal Court Judge and board member George Assad said during a recent hearing related to the case. “Just because a policy has been on the books for a number of years doesn’t mean it’s a good policy.”
The banned player cashes out money
The re-evaluation of the old policy comes after a recent hearing involving a gambler named Ron Wilson, who entered the Casablanca Casino in Mesquite despite being banned. He won $2,045 and ordered the estate to pay Wilson in a 2-1 Board of Control vote on October 18.
The controversy came after Wilson entered the property in April. Wilson won the $1,660 jackpot and also had $385 in the machine when his winnings were confiscated. The winnings were denied due to the hotel’s policy of not paying banned players.
The Oversight Commission later decided that the policy violated government gambling regulations and ordered Casablanca to pay up. Under its regulations, the Supervisory Board It separates trespassing and prosecution from the legal act of gamblingaccording to the Las Vegas Journal Review.
Records show Wilson’s history of getting 86ed from the drug dates back to 2011. That year, he was suspended for stealing beer, and more incidents followed.
“Since that incident, he has been removed from the property five more times, once in 2014, twice in 2015, once in 2019 and once in 2022 for various offences, including petty theft, and drunk or disorderly conduct.” , and violations of previous transgressions.” Review journal reports.
Control panel review problem
Casablanca officials had appealed the case twice before the final ruling was issued in October. While current policy puts the onus on the casino to keep hacking players out, Casablanca representatives said this is practically impossible and rewards banned players.
Casino officials said the issue has become a growing problem as gamblers risk small fines for playing. A subsequent Board of Control meeting continued to review the policy and it appeared that changes might be coming.
Games organizers, including Al-Assad, hope the board will continue to study the issue and change state policy to leave banned players losers rather than winners in such situations.
*Photo by Eddie Maloney – Wikipedia
