Articles from November 2024

The Grand Sierra Resort in Reno has agreed to pay the Nevada Gaming Commission (NGC) a quarter of a million dollars to settle a regulatory complaint stemming from an incident last year.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) brought a complaint against MEI-GSR Holdings, LLC, doing business as the Grand Sierra Resort after one of its agents reported being denied prompt access to the property’s Grand Theatre during a routine inspection.

Casino security told the agent, who had his NGCB badge and credentials displayed, that he had to relinquish his firearm before entering the theater. After about six minutes, higher-ups with the resort informed the security personnel that the gaming agent could enter the theater with his weapon.

Rare Occurrence

All establishments licensed by the NGC are subject to routine inspections. State gaming agents are to have immediate and full access to “all portions of the premises,” with the definition of premises being “curb to curb,” said Somps.

The senior deputy attorney general explained that gaming agents review areas off of the casino floor to ensure that no illegal gambling or other unlawful activity is occurring inside the licensed gaming facility.

While a brief delay for access is sometimes common, a delay of six minutes, which the agent disputed and said was longer, is an outlier according to Somps. Paired with a similar incident in 2021, where a third-party security guard hired by the Grand Sierra, blocked a gaming agent’s immediate access until he was wanded, Somps said a $250K penalty against the resort was warranted.

Licensees have a long history of complying and granting Board agents immediate access to all portions of the premises. The Board views the Grand Sierra Resort’s violation seriously and maintains that licensees and their employees understand that any Board agent be given immediate access to any portion of the premises of the gaming establishment after they display their credentials,” Somps said.

The Meruelo Group, the parent owner of the Grand Sierra Resort controlled by billionaire Alex Meruelo, didn’t contest the fine in agreeing to settle the complaint.

The $250K fine comes just days after Meruelo’s Grand Sierra donated $15K to both the Robert Mitchell Elementary School and Vaughn Middle School, both of which are part of the Washoe County School District.

Where the Money Goes 

The NGC and NGCB are responsible for the strict regulation of all persons, locations, practices, and activities associated with the state’s gaming industry. Nevada’s gaming law allows the NGC to impose fines on licensees found to be noncompliant with its regulations.

Fines received by the state gaming agency are directed to the Nevada General Fund. The $250K fine against Grand Sierra slightly offsets another decision made on Monday that determined that Nevada Restaurant Services Inc., the parent of Dotty’s gaming taverns, was owed a $3 million tax refund.

The post Reno’s Grand Sierra Resort Agrees to $250K Settlement With Nevada Gaming Commission appeared first on Casino.org.

The Nevada Gaming Commission (NGC) unanimously voted in favor of refunding $3.12 million in overpaid taxes to Nevada Restaurant Services Inc., the operator of the ubiquitous Dotty’s gaming taverns.

As part of the settlement, privately held Nevada Restaurant Services agreed to forgo claims to $222,744 in interest, which had been building up to the tune of $446 per day. Some members of the NGC had reservations about refunding that cash to the gaming operator because it was late in filing a claim.

In addition to Dotty’s, Nevada Restaurant Services runs gaming taverns in Nevada under the Bourbon Street, La Villita, Points! Casino, and Red Dragon brands.

Nevada Owes Dotty’s Parent More Money

The aforementioned $3.12 million isn’t the only refund coming to Nevada Restaurant Services by way of the NGC.

It was also discovered that the gaming bar operator is owed $1.8 million for two years of overpayments. The Dotty’s owner will accept that amount, but will forego rights to interest payments.

The overpayments occurred because NRSI failed to properly deduct wagered cashable electronic promotion amounts from its $46.9 million gross revenue. Under state regulations, companies can deduct specific promotional costs from taxable revenue, which NRSI overlooked,” reports The Las Vegas Review Journal.

There are 120 Dotty’s locations in Nevada, 80 of which are restricted gaming locations, meaning there are 15 gaming machines per venue. Twenty-seven Dotty’s taverns have as many as 40 gaming devices. None of the properties, nor any of the company’s other establishments, have table games.

How Nevada Gaming Promotion Deduction Works

Nevada’s guidelines pertaining to the deduction of select promotional expenditures are relatively straightforward, but there is some onus on operators to be diligent on this front. That includes maintaining solid documentation and performing regular testing of systems that could be applicable in the deduction claiming process.

“At least annually, all computerized player tracking, promotional accounts, promotion and external bonusing slot systems (in-house developed and vendor systems) are reviewed by personnel independent of the individuals that set up or make changes to the system parameters. The review is performed to determine that the configuration parameters are accurate and that the configuration parameters have not been altered without appropriate management authorization (e.g., player tracking system – verify the accuracy of the awarding of points based on the dollar amount wagered),” according to the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB).

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