The State Racing and Gaming Commission fined the Tippico sports book $5,000 for allowing a bet on how many interceptions the quarterback would have in the Super Bowl. They issued a second fine of $15,000 for allowing a bet on how many points Caitlin Clark would have in an NCAA tournament game. Both type of bets are not allowed by Iowa law.
Tippico spokesman Brian Schroeder says they made adjustments to put a warning in the system after the football bet, but they were ignored and the bet on Clark was allowed. Schroeder says the company has since been acquired by MGM and ended its business in Iowa.
The Prairie Meadows Casino was fined $45,000 for three violations. One violation involved an 18-year-old male who got onto the gambling floor. Prairie Meadows security director Jake Hedgecock says the teen had been turned away twice. He says the male was denied entrance to the casino and went out and changed his clothes and came back to another door where he was stopped and denied entrance again.
Hedgecock says they then reviewed video surveillance to see if the individual had been at the casino before. “We used our license plate reader to do due diligence to see if this person did come back on the property. Surveillance conducted an audit, the audit confirmed he did come back on the property. We shared those results with the commission,” he says. The casino agreed to a $20,000 penalty for that violation. Hedgecock says they did more training with security on identifying underage gamblers.
There was a second violation when an 18-year-old female was allowed onto the gaming floor with an adult and played a slot machine. Hedgecock says the security guard was disciplined for not stopping the teen. The casino payed a $20,000 penalty for that violation and was fined another $5,000 for being one day late in updating the list of self-banned gamblers. Hedgecock says they have made adjustments in their procedures so they will not be late in downloading the banned gambler information.
The action happened at Monday’s Racing and Gaming meeting.