Gaming briefs for Jan. 13, 2004

Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2004 | 11:09 a.m.

Casino workers accused of skimming off slots

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Six people were arrested and six more warrants were issued in a case where casino employees were accused of skimming at least $50,000 in a yearlong slot machine scam.

More warrants might be issued, Louisiana State Police spokesman Lt. William Davis said, though there's no telling how many employees are involved.

The casino's losses also might end up being far more than $50,000, he added.

"That could just be a drop in the bucket," Davis said.

The employees are accused of taking part in a scheme in which they used their supervisors' access codes to take between $800 and $1,100 from the slots at Casino Rouge at a time, their arrest warrants say.

The investigation began Dec. 27, after an internal audit at the Baton Rouge casino showed a shortfall, Davis said.

The employees who have been arrested -- and those wanted -- are accused of manipulating a system in which supervisors are sometimes required to verify slot machine winnings, the warrants say.

If a slot machine does not "read" someone's winnings, the warrants say, a supervisor uses a password to override the machine, then issues a slip redeemable for winnings, the warrants say.

The employees are accused of using the supervisors' passwords to generate the slips that they cashed themselves, the warrants say.

Casino fund to help problem gamblers almost empty

ALBUQUERQUE -- The fund to provide treatment for compulsive gambling in New Mexico is running low.

The indigent-care fund created by the nonprofit Council on Problem Gambling had less than $29,000 as of early last month, the Albuquerque Journal reported.

Most of the Indian tribes that operate casinos had been paying into the fund, which provides therapy for callers to a 24-hour hot line who can't afford treatment.

The hot line received 120 calls in the third quarter of 2003, according to council statistics. The average amount of money each problem gambler owed was more than $15,000.

When some unpaid bills for treatment are factored in, the fund will be empty or in the red, council executive director Kandace Blanchard said.

Blanchard wrote to several casino-operating tribes in November and December, warning them that the fund was dangerously low. None of them replied, she said.

The council now is funding treatment only for hotline callers believed to be suicidal or homicidal, Blanchard said.