Nevada Gaming commission hits Golden Route Operations with $75K fine
The Nevada Gaming Commission unanimously approved a stipulation for settlement agreement with the state’s largest slot route operator and fined the company $75,000 for providing slot machines to a Reno sports bar that didn’t hold a gaming license.
Representatives of Golden Route Operations LLC and Sartini Gaming LLC signed a stipulation admitting to two counts of a complaint issued Nov. 20 by the Nevada Gaming Control Board and approved by the commission Thursday.
Golden, which owns 100 percent of Sartini Gaming, is a subsidiary of Golden Entertainment, which has Nevada’s largest distributive gaming operation. Golden also operates the PT’s Pub tavern franchise and has eight casinos — seven in Nevada — including the Stratosphere.
Golden provided slot machines at Floyd’s Fireside, a Reno bar that was in the midst of changing ownership. The complaint said Floyd’s Fireside, owned by Thomas H. Floyd Enterprises Inc., which held a gaming license, sold the business to Colt Family LLC on June 15, 2016. Colt didn’t receive a gaming license until Feb. 9, 2017.
Golden continued to operate the slot machines after the business changed hands but before the new owners were licensed. The Control Board, through Deputy Attorney General Thomas Michela’s complaint, said Golden should have been aware that the transaction had been completed through public filings.
A second count of the complaint accused Golden of violating gaming regulations by failing to update written procedures preventing its installation of gaming devices at a location until it verified certain items.
Golden was directed to update its written procedures in an October 2013 settlement agreement, but when investigators checked with the company in March of this year, company officials produced a checklist. It was unclear whether procedures in the checklist were in place at the time of the Floyd’s Fireside transaction.
In addition to the $75,000 fine, the settlement stipulation requires Golden to update its verification procedures, including a provision that it review space lease agreements of its customers every five years.
Michael Alonzo, Golden’s attorney, said the company’s new procedures “are hard-wired into the system,” and the company’s compliance officer, Sean Higgins, said new steps and personnel are in place to prevent further occurrences.
Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter.
Quick chip access
The Nevada Gaming Commission on Thursday unanimously approved the licensing of the officers of Automated Cashless Systems Inc., doing business as ACS Playon, as a manufacturer and distributor of a new device that will enable casino customers to acquire chips at table games with a debit card for a fee.
Stephen Warner, the Reno company's chief operating officer, coordinated developing the technology that was used flawlessly at a tribal casino in California for 14 months before officials decided to expand the market into Nevada.
Warner emphasized that the system doesn't distribute cash, just chips, making it a point-of-sale transaction. He added that the system takes debit, but not credit cards because officials did not want players taking on debt to play.
"I'm happy that credit cards are a no," Commission Chairman Tony Alamo said prior to the vote.
Some find the system controversial because it's close to directly funding gaming from a bank account.
Gaming Control Board member Terry Johnson voted against recommending approval of the licensing because he was concerned that there were no limits or controls on the amount of chips that could be purchased by debit card.
Johnson said he learned later — and it was reiterated by the company Thursday — that ACS has a daily limit of $1,000 on transactions. Johnson said had he known that at the time of the board's Dec. 6 vote that he would have supported the licensing.
