The CasaBlanca Resort & Casino, a leading gaming site in Mesquite, Nevada, had a robbery incident recently. Its management decided to expel a player for the theft. However, the gamer entered the casino and won a jackpot on one of the casino’s slot machines.
Yet, the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) is ordering the casino to pay the player. It held a split ballot on October 4 before making the decision.
What the NGCB Members Decided
The NGCB instructed CasaBlanca Resort & Casino to pay Rhon Wilson the $2,045.18 he won in a jackpot. The Nevada Gaming Commission (NGC) cannot review the NGCB’s ruling since it is final. Besides, the Gaming Board made the decision after a dispute appeal was filed between the gaming property and Wilson.
One Board member, George Assad, disagreed with its decision in the 2-1 ballot. He is a pensioned Municipal Court Judge from Las Vegas.
Generally, the NGCB’s decisions rarely favor gamblers in player dispute appeals. Moreover, complaints are often made regarding unpaid jackpots that a player wins when a slot machine has broken down.
CasaBlanca Casino pleaded to the NGCB, and one of its hearing officers stated that it should pay the jackpot despite the current order that prevents Wilson from accessing the casino’s premises. The casino accused him of entering seven times without its permission and failing to pay for drinks.
It stated that each time Wilson visited it, he won the jackpot thrice in a few months. Dick Tomasso, Mesquite Gaming LLC’s Vice President of Government and Security Affairs, appeared before the NGCB to explain the concern. However, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that Wilson missed the recent meeting.
The Gaming Board’s latest ruling will trigger a policy debate on whether casinos should allow players who violate their rules to amass gaming payouts. The NGCB is reported to plan a regulatory meeting on October 18 to address the ongoing gaming concern about Wilson.
Wilson Breaches the Restraining Regulation
Tomasso informed the Gaming Board through public comment that it would be prudent to ask Wilson to pay a violation fine and continue gambling rather than abiding by the casino’s restraining order. He stated that the NGCB’s decision will affect all casino operators in Nevada.
Wilson has constantly breached the trespass order. Tomasso believes that the betting enforcement policy will allow Wilson to retain his winnings like he did three times before the casino caught him contravening its trespass order.
The Vice President urged the Gaming Board to be lenient on Mesquite Gaming since it has never objected to its mandate to instruct casino operators to pay banned players’ winnings.
But he reminded Board members that they have the authority to ban such players from entering casinos’ premises to claim their winnings. Tomasso stated that Wilson violated the order first before gambling.
