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Long-time Las Vegas-based advantage player, casino critic, and frequent Blackjack Insider contributor LVBear offers his opinions on things that sometimes go wrong in the world of casinos.  Current and past growls can be read, and comments posted, at LVBear's website, TheBearGrowls.com.

On June 13, 2008,  I posted:

It appears that the current business plan for some Reno casinos is for present ownership to loot as much from them as quickly as they can, then let them go under. As a staunch Reno supporter for a decade, and as one who makes at least fifteen trips a year to Reno, I am truly sorry to see these casinos rotting from within and beginning their death spirals. Reno casino failures within the last few years:

Speakeasy
Sundowner
Golden Phoenix
Baldini’s (downgraded from a casino to a slot house)

I predict none of the following will survive another five years under their present ownership and incompetent management, if they survive at all. The current Reno-area Casino Death Watch List:

Siena
Fitzgerald’s
Sands Regency
Boomtown
Diamond’s
Silver Club
Rail City
Grand Sierra (though it has recently mounted a comeback, and has the best chance of survival)

A "bonus" the South Tahoe Casino Death Watch List:

Horizon
Montbleu



Even I am surprised that two of the eight took less than four months for my prediction to come true.  Fitzgeralds, which in retrospect I believe the new ownership planned all along to plunder and close, recently announced that it is closing for good.  The new ownership and management seemed to do everything possible to antagonize and chase away the few customers the place had.  They "succeeded," and now 475 people will be out of work in the dead of winter in Reno.  One of the ownership group that apparently purchased it under the false pretense of trying to make it a success as a casino is the son of Reno’s mayor.  What a low-class scumbag!  I hope the mayor is ashamed, but I somehow doubt it.

Grand Sierra is the other one that is packing it in under present ownership .   As noted above, I thought Grand Sierra had the best chance to survive.  It is not being closed, but we’ll have to keep watching it.

Mayor Bob Cashell said he met with JPMorgan executives Friday and left feeling positive about the future of the property.  "From my understanding, they are just replacing the current management," Cashell said. 

This is good news, if accurate. Hopefully the new ownership will get rid of the twin failures, casino manager Navegante Group and sportsbook failure Lucky’s Race and Sports Book.  Lucky’s  is not even in the same league with the former independent book that was at Grand Sierra.  Apparently undercapitalized and definitely paranoid, Lucky’s is an embarrassment.  I hope the new ownership can get rid of Lucky’s quickly and restore respectability to the sportsbook operation.

Sad to say, two down, six to go.  I think Siena will be next, not surviving the winter.

Originally posted on www.BJ21.com Green Chip, posted here with permission.  An account of this incident also appears on SweatTheMoney.com, along with photos of the tickets referred to in the Gaming complaint. Following is a copy of a Gaming complaint filed by Bob Nersesian. The names of the parties have been edited out.

NERSESIAN & SANKIEWICZ
ATTORNEYS AND COUNSELORS
528 SOUTH EIGHTH STREET
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA 89101

October 14, 2008

HAND DELIVERED

Nevada Gaming Control Board
Attention: Enforcement Division
555 East Washington Avenue
Suite 2600
Las Vegas, NV 89101

Re: (name of patron) v. Aquarius

INITIATION OF A PATRON DISPUTE

Please accept this correspondence as a request for the initiation of a patron dispute pursuant to NRS 463.361, et seq. My client is (name of patron), and the gaming licensee on the other side is the Aquarius in Laughlin, Nevada. The patron has retained me to represent him throughout this process, and all correspondence and inquiry should proceed through this office.

Together with this request is a report of an unsuitable practice, a report of cheating by the casino, and a request that this crime by the casino and the unsuitable practice also be addressed and appropriate sanctions be applied against the licensee.

The facts giving rise to this dispute are as follows. On October 5, the patron was at the Aquarius and placed the sports bets attached as Exhibit 1. The ticket attached as Exhibit 2 was also written at this time. As you can see by Exhibit 1, the patron was placing straight bets on NFL games for the very same day. His bets are of an amount requiring approval by the Aquarius, and while the bets are placed this approval is given by a director or manager at Aquarius sports book.

The patron was at the window to place his bets. Also, because Aquarius still uses a written odds board, numbers on the board will often vary from the available bets at the ticket machines. Thus, prior to each bet placed, the odds are confirmed verbally by the ticket writer, and the patron decision as to whether or not to place the bet is then communicated. As you can see, all four bets were made on a single window visit and were issued between 9:56:18 and 10:01:27 a.m. These bets were all made at window # W000406, and the patron recalls the ticket writer as possibly named (deleted). The person approving the patron’s bets was (name of sportsbook manager). (see Exhibit 2).

As the patron went through and made his bets, the bets communicated to Aquarius, in the order communicated, were, as follows:

1. Bengals $2200
2. Texans $3300
3. Buccaneers $2200
4. Steelers $500

As you can see from the timing on the tickets, the patron had also made various inquiries about other possible bets which, when provided the current information on them, he rejected. The line behind him was becoming pressing as it was also approaching (or even passing) the start of some games. As the last ticket was written, and he was handed the tickets, by the sportsbook manager’s request he stepped aside and allowed the next customer to approach the window as the time was tight to get bets down. The sportsbook manager turned to leave.

As the patron reviewed his tickets, proximate to the window, he noted the ticket attached as Exhibit 2 was a parlay bet. It appears that as the patron declined an interim offered bet when the writer conveyed the then line, rather than hitting the clear button on the declined bet, the parlay key was inadvertently struck. Thus, his next bet, which was to be Buccaneers at $2200, was printed with the prior declined bet as a parlay. This resulted in the ticket attached as Exhibit 2.

The patron immediately got the sportsbook manager back to the window. The patron showed the sportsbook manager the error, and asked him to void the ticket. The sportsbook manager also personally knew that this ticket was in error as he had personally approved the single Buccaneers bet, and it was not in the package.

The sportsbook manager took the ticket from the patron and went to the back room of the sportsbook stating he would be right back. The patron assumed that he was voiding the erroneous ticket as requested. After about ten minutes, the sportsbook manager returned and stated to the patron, "The Bears are about to score. I cannot void this ticket." I would also point out that Aquarius has likely never issued a $2200 parlay, and that at the time the ticket was requested to be cancelled due to the error of the ticket writer, the game had not started or progressed in any fashion whatsoever. Further, with the -110 on the Buccaneers, the sum bet clearly reflects a desire to play to a $2000 win; something that is antithetical to a parlay bet.

When the sportsbook manager informed the patron that they Aquarius would not void the ticket, the patron requested that the sportsbook manager contact the Gaming Control Board. The sportsbook manager expressly refused. Also of import, after having cheated the patron out of the money, the sportsbook manager then barred him from placing bets in the Aquarius sports book. This reflects poorly on the repute of the state.

The sportsbook manager, and thereby the Aquarius, committed the following unsuitable practices:

1. Not correcting an error proximately brought to their attention (note, had they done so the voided bet would have not affected any outcome and been no win or loss for either the casino or the patron);

2. Cheating through past posting. The sportsbook manager waited until he found out whether Exhibit B was more likely a winner or a loser before making a decision on the patron’s request to void the ticket. NRS 465.070.5

3. The barring of the patron in this circumstance constitutes an unsuitable practice reflecting poorly on the repute of the State. NGCBR 5.011.1

4. The refusal to call the Gaming Control Board violates statutory requirements. NRS.463.362(4).

At this point, the patron is requesting the return of the $2200 bet on Exhibit 2, or the amount the ticket should have realized, $4200. Additionally, punitive damages are requested for the fraud, malice and oppression foisted upon the patron by the Aquarius as well as attorneys fees and interest from the date of the bet.

Please call with any questions or comments, and provide updates on the investigation of this matter to me. If, in your investigation, you wish to interview the patron personally, please contact me to arrange the same. Thank you for your attention.

Very truly yours,

Nersesian & Sankiewicz

Robert A. Nersesian

The casino-hugging Clark County District Attorney, David Roger, is helping Harrah’s sweep the substandard building scandal under the rug.  According to this news article, Harrah’s is essentially being given a free pass to correct its criminal behavior without penalty.  The arraignment of Harrah’s itself on the criminal charges, as well as the arraignments of two Harrah’s employees on criminal charges, are being postponed again and again.  Is there any doubt that after the "review" is completed and some upgrades made to the substandard properties, the criminal charges will be quietly dropped?

This is typical Nevada "law enforcement" behavior when it comes to crimes by casinos and casino employees.  In this instance, our little District Attorney is following the pathetic usual behavior of the Gaming Control Board when dealing with casino wrongdoing.  Make them fix the problem, but don’t punish them. Can any other criminals get away with merely righting their wrongs?  For example, "Oh, yes, I robbed the bank. You caught me.  I’ll give the money back, and nothing more will happen to me."  Sure.

What about the county employees who admitted to taking bribes from Harrah’s?  None of them have been arrested and prosecuted.  And what about the corrupt former county inspector who falsified official reports about the inspections?  He has not been arrested and prosecuted.  Why not?  Probably because they would turn against Harrah’s to save their own skins, and offer embarrassing and probably incriminating information about the casino company that the DA’s office apparently would rather help cover up. Shameful and disgusting.

David Roger, the same character who wasted taxpayer time and money by personally prosecuting O J Simpson for crimes that casino employees frequently commit but are never prosecuted for, had an opportunity to take a public position that might indicate Nevada at least cares a little bit about the well-being of its visitors.  Unfortunately, he failed miserably. Shame on David Roger.

Previously, I wrote:

... Hopefully the new ownership will get rid of the twin failures, casino manager Navegante Group and sportsbook failure Lucky’s Race and Sports Book.  Lucky’s  is not even in the same league with the former independent book that was at Grand Sierra.  Apparently undercapitalized and definitely paranoid, Lucky’s is an embarrassment.  I hope the new ownership can get rid of Lucky’s quickly and restore respectability to the sportsbook operation.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After a shaky start, Lucky’s is at least semi-respectable, especially compared to some truly awful sportsbooks like at most of the Harrah’s properties.   Reno-based, Lucky’s has now made some inroads into other locations, but not yet into any decent casinos.  Sadly for Lucky’s, it is only in failing casinos so far, apparently juiced in by the ubiquitous Navegante Group, management king of failing casinos.  Lucky’s recent takeover of the nearly-bankrupt Terrible’s casinos’ books in Las Vegas and Primm is a major improvement over the sorry books that existed under Terrible’s.  Lucky’s is at least accepting decent action.

To my knowledge, only two Lucky’s locations have thrown out patrons for using their brains — the Lucky’s at Red Lion in Elko and the Lucky’s in the downtown Las Vegas Plaza.  Lucky’s, like Cal-Neva and Harrah’s, offers the player-friendly service of cashing tickets at any of its locations, regardless of where the bet was placed.  Leroy’s offers the service also, but limits it to very small tickets of under $1000 total cash — not really much of a "service."

Overall, with the notable exception of the Grand Sierra Reno and the Plaza Las Vegas sportsbooks, the replacement by Lucky’s of its predecessors has been an improvement.   I hope Lucky’s can make enough money to upgrade its equipment and get rid of its antiquated ticket machines.  For now, I wish Lucky’s well.  May it become a formidable competitor to the Cal-Neva and Leroy’s sportsbook chains. I hope management doesn’t make some stupid decisions that will cause me to change my mind.

Rest assured we are doing everything we can do to provide an efficient security process for our customers. Since the events of 9/11 we have expanded the number of checkpoint lanes at McCarran from 12 to 46 with the recent addition of 12 lanes at the new C Gate Checkpoint. Our biggest challenge is getting the Federal Transportation

Security Administration (TSA) to provide enough staffing for the available lanes. Even though our passenger level has grown by over 25 percent in the past three years, the TSA has not provided any significant increase in its authorized staffing.

I do not understand why the airport would object to a ’pay to cut to the front of the line’ program when virtually anyone except those with criminal backgrounds can pay for the same privilege if they so choose. The airlines successfully use similar programs — for example, Southwest’s "A List." These programs are popular with the airlines’ best customers — those who fly the most and therefore use the airport the most. These same frequent airport users are the most likely to pay for Registered Traveler privileges. They are also the ones who most frequently patronize the airport’s parking lots and concessionaires, therefore generating more revenue for the airport. I think it is a mistake to refuse them the benefit that more and more airports around the country are now offering. It makes McCarran seem second-rate and less than "user friendly" when even a small airport like Reno-Tahoe has Registered Traveler capability.