Phil Katsaros appointed to Gaming Control Board
A Reno-based gaming executive with more than 20 years of industry experience has been named to the state Gaming Control Board.
Phil Katsaros, CEO and director for Certus Gaming USA Inc. and a former agent in the Tax and Licensing and Corporate Securities divisions of the Control Board, was appointed to the three-member board late Thursday by Gov. Steve Sisolak.
“Phil brings over two decades of gaming experience, making him an outstanding addition to the Gaming Control Board,” Sisolak said. “I’m thrilled to appoint him and am confident he will use his diverse expertise to strengthen our gaming regulation system and promote Nevada’s gaming industry as the gold standard worldwide.”
Katsaros replaces Shawn Reid, who in January did not seek reappointment to the board after serving for eight years.
Katsaros began his career with the Control Board in 1998, conducting financial audits of licensees as a Tax and Licensing Division agent. In 1999, he transferred to the Corporate Securities Division as a special agent for five years before taking a position as a compliance manager with IGT in Amsterdam.
He returned to Reno with IGT in 2008 to become international-interactive compliance manager.
Katsaros joined the international Inspired Gaming Group as head of business development for the Americas, focusing on its virtual sports business. He spent three years with the company before becoming CEO for Certus Gaming USA in 2018. Certus is a gaming systems supplier whose parent company is based in Luxembourg.
Katsaros earned his bachelor’s degree of Business Administration in Accounting from Eastern Michigan University.
The Reno resident is Sisolak’s second appointment to the Control Board. In January, he tapped Nevada Gaming Commissioner Sandra Douglass Morgan to chair the Control Board, replacing Becky Harris, who headed the board one year.
The term of the third member of the Control Board, Terry Johnson, expires Jan. 29, 2021.
Control Board members are full-time employees and are paid salaries of $152,151 a year.
The new board member was expected to be from Northern Nevada as Morgan and Johnson are both based in Las Vegas.
A previous version of this story incorrectly reported the salaries of full-time Control Board member employees.
Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter.
