Nevada Wants to Rewrite the Rules on Casino Winnings Eligibility

Article by : Erik Gibbs Oct 30, 2023

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The Nevada Gaming Control Board is currently deliberating whether individuals who have been ejected from a casino should be entitled to collect their winnings if they manage to re-enter and win money.

As reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, members of the gaming board voted on October 4 to honor a slot machine jackpot of over $2,000 that was won by a frequent trespasser earlier this year at the Casablanca hotel-casino in Mesquite, Nevada.

The casino had contested the payout, citing that the gambler had previously been instructed to leave the premises due to various alleged infractions, including petty theft, unruly behavior while under the influence and repeated violations of trespass orders, with six such incidents occurring between 2011 and the prior year.

Nonetheless, as per the Review-Journal’s report, this individual managed to reenter the casino and achieve jackpot wins on three separate occasions over the course of several months.

Some gaming authorities have voiced concerns about the escalating issue on the Las Vegas Strip, where individuals previously banned from casinos have become aware that paying a minor fine after being cited for trespassing poses no real deterrent to sneaking back into a casino and resuming their slot machine gambling activities.

According to Christopher Lalli, Assistant District Attorney for Clark County, who spoke with various news outlets, he had examined records from July and discovered 87 trespassing cases before a Las Vegas judge who presides over a specialized resort corridor court.

To Lalli, there are issues that law codes are oftentimes not flexible to address in a proper manner. That is why changes and modifications are necessary.

In most instances, the usual course of action involves the defendant entering a guilty plea and receiving an order to refrain from entering the casino, usually for a duration of six months.

Authorities have emphasized that trespassers frequently disregard these court orders and re-enter casinos, secure jackpot wins and rely on the knowledge that long-standing policies, approved decades ago, generally dictate that their winnings should be paid out.

With modifications, law codes would correct the longstanding issues some of these policies have caused in the last years.