Sex issues, cover charge to cost Olympic Garden

David Strow

Tuesday, March 19, 2002 | 11:22 a.m.

A prominent Las Vegas topless dancing club has agreed to pay a $25,000 fine to settle a three-count complaint brought by the Nevada Gaming Control Board.

The settlement between the board and the Olympic Garden must still be approved by the Nevada Gaming Commission, which meets Thursday in Las Vegas. The Olympic Garden currently holds a license to operate 13 gaming devices.

"I'm pleased with it (the settlement)," board member Bobby Siller said. "I think this recommendation is a fair one."

The complaint against the Olympic Garden centered around three issues, arising from incidents that occurred at the club from 1999 through 2001:

On five separate occasions in February and March 2001, the board alleged, undercover board agents visited the club and asked to be admitted for the purpose of playing video poker machines. State gaming regulations require gambling to be conducted in public, so any person who wants to enter the club for the sole purpose of gambling must be admitted for free. A sign was posted in the club saying gamblers would be admitted for free, but the Control Board alleged its agents were required to pay the club's cover charge anyway.

From February 1999 to February 2001, undercover Metro officers made six arrests of dancers at the Olympic Garden, claiming the dancers had solicited them for acts of prostitution.

For a period in 2001, the Olympic Garden assigned the rights to its name to a website that contained nudity and pornographic images, the Control Board alleged.

The Olympic Garden did not admit wrongdoing in the settlement. In addition to paying the $25,000 fine, the Olympic Garden agreed to a policy that will allow gamblers free admittance. A player will still have to pay a cover charge, but can have this charge refunded if he plays the machines during his entire stay in the club.

The Olympic Garden also agreed to take a "proactive" stance in preventing solicitation within the club, and agreed it would not allow its name or Internet domain to be used or linked to any website "containing nudity or explicit pornographic material."

"What I'm pleased with is there's some policies and proactive approaches to ensure prostitution doesn't take place," Siller said. "I don't necessarily agree to topless places containing gaming in the first place, but if they must, there is a need for greater oversight to make sure prostitution doesn't take place."

Olympic Garden owner Peter Eliades could not be reached for comment.