The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission recently fined Rhythm City Casino in Davenport and Riverside Casino in Riverside for violations of the gambling self-ban.
Rhythm City Casino was fined $3,000 after an individual on the self-ban list was allowed to sign up for a players club account. It’s Rhythm City’s first violation in the past year. General Manager Mo Hyder said despite “rigorous training procedures, ” the employee who was handling the situation was confused about what to do. A commissioner asked Hyder if human error was involved and Hyder replied, “Human error, correct.”
A player on the self-ban list also was allowed to sign up for a players club account at Riverside Casino, which was fined $25,000 because it was the second time this type of incident had taken place within the past year.
General Manager Dan Franz said stated club cards were issued in three different areas, but the venue has taken steps to make sure the error does not recur. He said all staff members received additional training and also signed an affidavit that they did take the training.
Franz added a new procedure has begun, alerting an employee when a person attempting to sign up for a players card possibly could be on the self-ban list. Employees are instructed to immediately alert a supervisor to handle situation when this occurs.
“What happens in these cases where there is a potential banned patron is a box pops up and it identifies potential situations of banned patrons and it highlights them in red. What happened in this case is the employee clicked over it and went right by the procedure we had in place. What I am asking employees to do now is that is an immediate stop and a supervisor is to come out,” Franz said.
