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Casinos, Nevada regulators squabble over high-roller rules
Casinos, Nevada regulators squabble over high-roller rules
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) - Casino industry representatives urged Nevada regulators Thursday to avoid rules governing private gambling salons that might scare off the high rollers they're supposed to attract.
Tom Smock of the upscale Venetian megaresort in Las Vegas questioned one rule that directs casinos to get names of high rollers as well as members of their entourage who join them in the salons.
Smock said some of the big-time gamblers, known as "whales," might have a wife in one hotel suite and a mistress in another, and don't want a record of who's gambling with them.
Smock also joined with Bill Bible and Jack Godfrey of the Nevada Resort Association, representing most major hotel-casinos in the state, in urging that a $1 million credit-or-cash bankroll requirement to enter a private salon be cut in half. Keeping the requirement too high was "a recipe for disaster," Smock said.
The industry representatives got support from some Nevada Gaming Commission members, notably Art Marshall who agreed the high rollers "don't live like us.
"If you make it burdensome, they won't come here."
Commission member Augie Gurrola added, "We're kidding ourselves if we put all these impediments in front of them."
But state Gaming Control Board member Bobby Siller, a former FBI agent, pressed for controls to ensure that patrons in the private salons wouldn't be "embarrassing or harmful to us."
Siller also said the industry was pushing for standards that weren't envisioned by Nevada lawmakers when they authorized private gambling earlier this year.
Deputy Attorney General Mike Wilson, who wrote most of the rules, added information on a high roller's entourage would be kept confidential and used for regulatory purposes such as keeping out unsavory types.
No action was taken. Gaming Commission Chairman Peter Bernhard said the issue will be discussed again Jan. 24 in Las Vegas, when a vote is expected.
Bernhard also said revisions can be sought from the 2003 Legislature if regulators and the industry can't agree.
"If there are problems, it's not that long before the Legislature meets again," he said.
And while Bible said the purpose of the new law was to generate more revenue for resorts, Bernhard said that doesn't justify loose rules.
The Gaming Control Board's proposal calls for the $1 million bankroll requirement, but the per-hand betting minimum was scaled back to $500, in line with industry requests.
The minimum bet requirements had started out at $20,000 a hand in the private rooms, and then was dropped to $3,000. That still wasn't low enough for the casino industry, which pushed for $500 minimum wagers.
The Nevada Resort Association argued the $500 minimum bet gives the clubs more flexibility, and that's important given the economic slump that followed the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Nevada casinos have courted the biggest of the high-end players by offering lavish suites, free entertainment and meals, shopping sprees in casino's shops, access to private jets and other inducements.
But until this year, state law required all gambling to be open to the public, including areas set aside for high-end players.
The main argument for the salons was that they'd attract international high-rolling bettors who want more privacy and are willing to risk millions of dollars when they gamble.
Casinos in such destinations as Macau, Monaco and Australia offer private gambling rooms, and major Nevada casinos said they needed the same thing to compete.
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) - Casino industry representatives urged Nevada regulators Thursday to avoid rules governing private gambling salons that might scare off the high rollers they're supposed to attract.
Tom Smock of the upscale Venetian megaresort in Las Vegas questioned one rule that directs casinos to get names of high rollers as well as members of their entourage who join them in the salons.
Smock said some of the big-time gamblers, known as "whales," might have a wife in one hotel suite and a mistress in another, and don't want a record of who's gambling with them.
Smock also joined with Bill Bible and Jack Godfrey of the Nevada Resort Association, representing most major hotel-casinos in the state, in urging that a $1 million credit-or-cash bankroll requirement to enter a private salon be cut in half. Keeping the requirement too high was "a recipe for disaster," Smock said.
The industry representatives got support from some Nevada Gaming Commission members, notably Art Marshall who agreed the high rollers "don't live like us.
"If you make it burdensome, they won't come here."
Commission member Augie Gurrola added, "We're kidding ourselves if we put all these impediments in front of them."
But state Gaming Control Board member Bobby Siller, a former FBI agent, pressed for controls to ensure that patrons in the private salons wouldn't be "embarrassing or harmful to us."
Siller also said the industry was pushing for standards that weren't envisioned by Nevada lawmakers when they authorized private gambling earlier this year.
Deputy Attorney General Mike Wilson, who wrote most of the rules, added information on a high roller's entourage would be kept confidential and used for regulatory purposes such as keeping out unsavory types.
No action was taken. Gaming Commission Chairman Peter Bernhard said the issue will be discussed again Jan. 24 in Las Vegas, when a vote is expected.
Bernhard also said revisions can be sought from the 2003 Legislature if regulators and the industry can't agree.
"If there are problems, it's not that long before the Legislature meets again," he said.
And while Bible said the purpose of the new law was to generate more revenue for resorts, Bernhard said that doesn't justify loose rules.
The Gaming Control Board's proposal calls for the $1 million bankroll requirement, but the per-hand betting minimum was scaled back to $500, in line with industry requests.
The minimum bet requirements had started out at $20,000 a hand in the private rooms, and then was dropped to $3,000. That still wasn't low enough for the casino industry, which pushed for $500 minimum wagers.
The Nevada Resort Association argued the $500 minimum bet gives the clubs more flexibility, and that's important given the economic slump that followed the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Nevada casinos have courted the biggest of the high-end players by offering lavish suites, free entertainment and meals, shopping sprees in casino's shops, access to private jets and other inducements.
But until this year, state law required all gambling to be open to the public, including areas set aside for high-end players.
The main argument for the salons was that they'd attract international high-rolling bettors who want more privacy and are willing to risk millions of dollars when they gamble.
Casinos in such destinations as Macau, Monaco and Australia offer private gambling rooms, and major Nevada casinos said they needed the same thing to compete.