In Nevada, the operator of the Boomtown Casino Hotel has reportedly agreed to pay a fine of $40,000 amid allegations that its website for the Verdi-based venue had last year briefly offered access to illegal real-money online gaming services. According to a Friday report from the Las Vegas Review-Journal newspaper, BCH Gaming Reno arranged the settlement with the Nevada Gaming Control Board via its Chief Executive Officer, Robert Medeiros, on May 11 with the deal now set to be considered by the Nevada Gaming Commission at its next meeting on Thursday.
The newspaper reported that an investigation by the Nevada Gaming Control Board had discovered that the promotional website for the Boomtown Casino Hotel had featured links to 15 other domains between March and August of 2017 with eleven of these offering visitors the ability to play a variety of online casino games for money. The real-money sites were purportedly run by Curacao-licensed, Deck Media and Affiliate Edge, while BCH Gaming Reno, through an entity known as Evo Advertising Incorporated is also alleged to have received commissions from the pair including $1,621 from the latter in contravention of state regulations and the federal Interstate Wire Act of 1961.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that the Nevada Gaming Control Board contacted BCH Gaming Reno about the Play Even When Away and Play Online links on August 17 after determining that these were illegal. In its subsequent investigation, the regulator concluded that the operator had ‘ceded complete control concerning links to online gaming on its website to one employee’ said to be its web and graphics designer. “It appears this person had little, if any, understanding of gaming laws,” read the findings of the Nevada Gaming Control Board. “It further appears Boomtown exercised little, if any, oversight concerning this employee’s actions with regard to placing links to online gaming on Boomtown’s website.”
