The Grand Falls and Lakeside casinos each agreed to fines for gambling violations Thursday at the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission meeting.
Commission administrator, Brian Ohorilko, says the violation was discovered at Grand Falls in Larchwood when a minor was stopped from entering the gambling floor. “As part of that process the minor had indicated that he had been on the floor previously,” Ohorilko says. “Grand Falls conducted a review of their surveillance coverage and did confirm that that minor had made his way onto the floor in the early morning hours, was on the floor 70 minutes, gambled.”
Ohorilko says the male minor was not challenged by security in the first visit. “It was noted that Grand Falls did self-report the violation — however because of the nature of what had occurred — it would call for an administrative penalty. And Grand Falls agreed to pay the penalty in the amount of $20,000,” according to Ohorilko.
He says this is the second violation by Grand Falls in the last 365 days — which is why the penalty was $20,000. A third violation in the same time period would result in a $30,000 fine.
The penalty for the Lakeside Casino in Osceola resulted from a violation of the rules for gamblers who have banned themselves from casinos. “There was an individual who was on the statewide self-excluded list. That patron had contacted Lakeside and informed them they were receiving promotional mailings. If someone is on that statewide self-exclusion list, they are not permitted to receive marketing material,” Ohorilko explains.
He says the investigation by the casino determined this was not a single incident. “They also confirmed that there was a specific email that went out and 36 other individuals received promotional mailings,” he says. Ohorilko says the improper mailings came from a promotions company hired by the parent company of Lakeside.
“Part of that process, the screening mechanism was not working correctly,” Ohorilko says. “So the situation has been rectified. Commission staff is comfortable at lest that this will not occur again.”
It was the first violation by Lakeside in the last 365 days and the casino was fined $5,000.