The Diamond Jo casino in Dubuque is paying the state some $95,000 following the discovery of issues with its system for registering gamblers who have banned themselves.
Iowa Racing and Gaming administrator Brian Ohorilko, says the casino started investigating after finding a patron that they thought should have been on the self-exclusion list. “They went back and conducted an additional audit and noticed that there were 24 individuals who had signed up on a self-exclusion list over the past 12 years that were not entered,” Ohorilko explains.
Those who are on the self-ban list cannot gamble and are not allowed to collect any jackpots. Ohorilko says some of the players who got through the system did collect jackpots at various casinos. “They had winnings in the amount of $75,000. Diamond Jo as a result of this violation, they have agreed to pay the general fund the $75,000 that would otherwise have been collected and sent to the state,” Ohorilko says.
He says the casino traced the problem back to an employee. “It appears it was a breakdown in procedures, in that the employee that was responsible for entering the statewide self-excluisons from the various team members, that individual employee — for whatever reason — just failed to enter some of them,” according to Ohorilko.
Ohorilko says the casino took steps to deal with the employee and the problem. “I know Diamond Jo, they had taken this as an opportunity to go back and review their procedures,” Ohorilko says. “They brought in compliance staff from their corporate headquarters, and so a number of internal procedures were modified as a result of this incident.”
Ohorilko says the casino also agreed to pay an administrative penalty of $20,000 following the Racing and Gaming Commission review.