When you start feeling good about your fraud policies and procedures and how tight and good your controls are, a new fraud scheme develops quickly within the industry, and you get hit with a loss. Fraud in our industry is not going to go away, ever. Here are a couple of fraud schemes I have witnessed during the last two years.
For a number of reasons, a casino operation can find itself suffering from declining profits that put it into a distressed position. This situation can be the result of continual revenue losses over an extended period of time, or from a sharp decrease in profits during a recent, but relatively short, business cycle.
How do you rate the health of your surveillance operation? A few years back, I developed a model for surveillance management called the Four Pillars of Surveillance. The model was essentially a guide to help review and measure the state of the operation.
I write this on the evening of Jan. 1, 2007. Something about each New Year’s Day causes me to wonder what the coming twelve months will bring, and what lessons I can take from prior years to make the coming one even better.
In 2005, Las Vegas celebrated its centennial anniversary, commemorating its transformation from a sleepy desert town into a world-class city of unparalleled gambling, architecture, and leisure activities. Spanish explorers discovered the Las Vegas area—the “fertile lowlands”—in 1829. Ironically, Mormons were the region’s first settlers in 1855.
If the proposed regulations currently being debated for Class II are approved, manufacturers and members of the Class II gaming community say the games will be slower, harder to play, unappealing to the customer, and the commercial integrity of the game product (games and technical aides) will be seriously compromised.
In Sommer v. Vanguard Group, 461 F.3d 397 (3d Cir. 2006), the Third Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that an employer may, under certain circumstances, reduce an employee’s bonus because of absences protected by the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The ruling affects employers in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and the Virgin Islands.
Does customer loyalty really exist in the casino industry, or are we just buying loyalty? The casino industry has changed dramatically over recent years as competition increased. As an independent casino marketing consultant, I find myself reviewing the same situations I once saw as a casino marketing executive, but now I look at them differently.
Check out the new class II slots from February 2007! Featured are the exciting and volatile Wild Wranglers from GTECH, the brilliant and sparkling Reel Diamonds from Cadillac Jack, the mysterious magic of the Fortune Teller from Multimedia Games, and the fun, Easter Egg-laden Reef Madness from Diamond Game. Any of these games would make a great addition to your casino floor!
For centuries, federal and state governments have posed numerous problems for Native Americans. In 1988, when the federal government passed the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, life changed for many on tribal lands. Ernie Stevens, Jr. is the three-term chair of NIGA. Through education and support of Indian Gaming, Stevens hopes to create opportunities for a better life for Native Americans.
