NGC Settles with Gaming Operators, Acquires $435,000 in Fines

Nevada gaming regulators approved Thursday a handful of settlements for disciplinary actions against casino operators. The Nevada Gaming Commission (NGC) fined Boyd Gaming $300,000 for a November 2019 incident, and affirmed another $135,000 in fines from other operators for violations of the state’s health and safety guidelines.

$300,000 for Boyd Gaming

The biggest chunk of the freshly acquired $435,000 from the state regulators will come from the operator of Fremont Casino, Boyd Gaming Corp. The casino faced four-count complaint from the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) for an incident with a female patron.

The NGC imposed $300,000 for the embarrassing incident that was classified as damaging the state’s reputation. Boyd was even facing the possibility of its license for the Fremont Casino property being revoked, but its “lengthy track record of compliance” influenced the NGC’s members to impose only a financial sanction.

$75,000 for The Meruelo Group

The NGC’s commissioners approved settlements to the amount of $135,000 in fines ranging from $5,000 to $75,000, all due to violations of safety guidelines for operation. The largest of the Covid-19 violation fines was imposed to The Meruelo Group for its Strip’s Sahara property and Grand Sierra Resort in Reno.

August 3 an agent filed a complaint against the Sahara property for violation of social distancing rules. The agent saw 3 non-players standing between players at a craps table, 1 non-player standing between seated players at a blackjack table and 5 non-players standing around a slot machine patron. In addition, the property violated the maximum number of people gathering, 50, by allowing 135 people to attend a luncheon at one of the Sahara’s conference rooms.

August 7 was filed another complaint, this time against Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, a property also operated by The Meruelo Group. 2 table game players were detected during an inspection of not wearing masks, and in another inspection, 43 people were either not wearing masks or wearing them improperly. A third inspection, 34 were not wearing masks, and 50 people waiting to board an elevator did not maintain a 6-foot distance between themselves.

The Rest of the Fines

The list of the sanctioned gaming operators include C.O.D. Casino Corp., for its Cod Casino in Minden, which was fined $30,000 after an anonymous complaint prompted an agent to visit the venue and find out patrons not wearing masks or wearing them improperly.

United Coin Machine Co., doing business as Cheers, in Winnemucca, was fined $15,000 for 6 bar-top slot machines available for play in violation of regulations. Hotel Nevada, in Ely was slapped with a $10,000 fine for employees and customers not wearing masks properly on two occasions.

Waldman Investments, doing business as Incline Bowl in Incline Village, was fined $5,000 for bar-top slot machines that were in violation of the orders that these be shut down.