Security guard's actions cost Grand Sierra Resort of Reno a quarter-million dollar fine

The Nevada Gaming Commission imposed a $250,000 fine on the largest casino in northern Nevada for denying a Nevada Gaming Control Board agent access to a theater at the Reno resort.

The complaint by the Control Board was not contested by GSR Holdings LLC, which operates the Grand Sierra Resort.

The Control Board stated in the complaint that casino security guards at the resort obstructed board enforcement agents from entering a GSR theater during a routine property inspection.

According to the complaint, a comparable incident transpired at Grand Sierra Resort in January 2021, and the Control Board issued a violation letter in February 2021.

The resort had employed security officers who were not properly registered with the Private Investigators Licensing Board to augment its security personnel in that particular instance.

In the stipulation for settlement, Senior Deputy Attorney General Michael Somps accepted that Grand Sierra Resort acknowledged that the board agent was delayed access. However, the agent was subsequently permitted to enter the theater without being disarmed. The agent subsequently opted to leave the premises after engaging in further discussions with security officers.

It is unclear as to why the security guard was not arrested for obstruction or interference with the investigation. In Nevada, Gaming Control Board agents are full-fledged peace officers and have full police powers.

The Sahara in Las Vegas is operated by the same company that owns Grand Sierra Resort.

Commissioners inquired as to why the agent was attempting to enter the resort's theater during the recent hearing on the matter. Somps stated that Control Board agents have the statutory authority to enter any area of a licensed casino-resort, citing instances from several years ago in which agents opted to observe resort nightclubs in order to investigate numerous drug-related allegations. In the most-recent incident, Somps did not provide a specific description of the agents' objectives. He also stated that Grand Sierra Resort estimated that the agent's delay in gaining entry was only six minutes; however, Control Board testimony suggested that the wait was much longer.

“As you know, board agents have access to all portions of the premises of a gaming establishment,” Somps said. “The definition of premises is essentially curb to curb. Why a particular agent would want to go into a non-gaming area, it’s because those non-gaming areas can also impact the policy of the state of Nevada, impact the reputation of the gaming industry and the reputation of Nevada. An example of that can go back to the disciplinary matters that were taken by the board against licensees for events that happened in their nightclubs, which was off the gaming floor.”

A Las Vegas-based advantage player who uses the pseudonym LV Bear, a frequent critic of both Gaming Control and casino security guards, commented, “I certainly side with Gaming on this. This casino must be hiring people literally off the streets, with no knowledge or training at all, for the guards to not even understand the basics. In reading the complaint in this case, this is embarrassing. How could they be so ignorant? This shows how little the entire security staff of a large casino sometimes knows about what they are supposed to be doing.”

Source:

“Nevada resort fined $250K for denying agent access” , Richard N. Velotta, lvrj.com, November 4, 2024.