Gaming briefs for Jan. 5, 2004

Monday, Jan. 5, 2004 | 11:10 a.m.

Crime at casinos up slightly

VALLEY CENTER, Calif. -- Crime at northern San Diego County casinos increased slightly during the first half of 2003, but incidents were no more prevalent than at any other public attraction in the county and did not rival Las Vegas crime, the San Diego County Sheriff's Department said.

Thirty-one violent crimes were reported for the first half of 2003 at Harrah's Rincon, Pala, Pauma and Valley View casinos, nine more than the same time period in 2002.

Employees arrested

SHREVEPORT, La. -- Four Hollywood Casino employees who unloaded slot machines were arrested in an orchestrated attempt to pocket cash from the machines and block the security cameras.

"One individual was removing money and placing it in his pockets while the other members tried to block the view of cameras and-or security," Lt. William Davis said.

Hollywood Casino's audit department had told the state police that it was suspicious of one of the four-member teams that empty, reload and check the slot machines, Davis said.

When they were arrested, one of the casino workers had taken $1,600 from a slot machine.

Gamblers cash in on programming error

GARY, Ind. -- An apparent programming error caused 26 slot machines at the Trump Casino to give users twice the amount of money they wagered -- before they ever pushed a button.

State police alerted all 10 Indiana casinos after troopers discovered the error. No other casinos were apparently affected.

Casino security officers reported the problem after they saw a man cash out his bet without playing a single spin on Dec. 7. The machines apparently were in service about 14 hours before the mistake was found. Police said they did not know how much money had been lost because of the error.

Investigators at the state police gaming division said the error may have occurred when the machines were reprogrammed to accept the new $20 bill.

Marcus Prater, senior vice president for marketing at Bally Gaming and Systems of Las Vegas, the machines' manufacturer, suspected the machines were mistakenly programmed to accept European currencies.