Gaming news briefs for June 7, 2004

Monday, June 7, 2004 | 11:20 a.m.

CFO fired; company may have to amend filings

Shuffle Master Inc. of Las Vegas, which makes card-shuffling equipment and other gambling products, said it fired Chief Financial Officer Gerald Koslow for failing to disclose an arrest on a renewal form with the Nevada Gaming Commission.

The Gaming Commission requires officers of gaming companies to disclose on licensing applications whether they've been arrested, said Paul Meyer, the chief operating officer who will temporarily take over Koslow's post.

Koslow, 45, was arrested in April on a misdemeanor domestic disturbance charge and didn't disclose the arrest on a renewal form with the gaming board. He hasn't been convicted, Meyer said.

"Some of his renewals were certified by the company," Meyer said. (While it's unlikely the company will be fined), "at the very least we'll have to go through an amendment," he said.

Koslow declined to comment when reached at his home in Las Vegas.

Officials fired over inappropriate photos

PHOENIX -- Two members of Fort McDowell Casino's tribal regulatory office have been fired after one of them used casino surveillance cameras to zoom in and photograph the breasts of unsuspecting female patrons and employees, authorities said.

Edward Roybal, executive director of Fort McDowell's Tribal Gaming Office, called the photos "an unfortunate, appalling incident."

Roybal said that the tribe took swift corrective measures when the actions of the regulators were revealed.

Most of the fully clothed women photographed were primarily card dealers, tribal officials said.

State documents released this week identified the regulators as Donald Alfieri, a gaming inspector at the casino, and his supervisor, Merlin Jones.

Tribe drops table games

MADISON, Wis. -- The Ho-Chunk Nation will stop offering Las Vegas-style table games at the end of this month at its casino near Baraboo to comply with a state Supreme Court ruling, tribal officials said.

Ho-Chunk tribal officials posted a public notice Friday announcing the move.

The games to be canceled include craps, roulette and poker -- games the state Supreme Court said were illegal, tribal spokesman Ed Littlejohn said.

"This ruling overturned the governor's original compact with the Nation allowing these expanded table games," the notice said.

In a split ruling last month, the state Supreme Court decided that Gov. Jim Doyle exceeded his authority in signing a gaming compact with the Forest County Potawatomi that had no expiration date and allowed Las Vegas-style games.

The ruling is expected to have a similar impact on the deals Doyle reached with 10 other Indian tribes in Wisconsin, including the Ho-Chunk.

The tribes have continued to offer the new games, believing the issue is a matter of federal law and not state regulation.

Tribe ordered to close casino

UKIAH, Calif. -- The Shodakai Casino in Mendocino County was ordered to close by noon today because it hasn't signed a state gaming agreement.

The Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians has run the Redwood Valley casino for the past 10 years. Tribal attorney Eduardo Roy told The Santa Rosa Press Democrat on Saturday that the tribe plans to appeal Friday's order by the National Indian Gaming Commission.

The Shodakai Casino is the only casino out of the state's 53 casinos operating without a state gaming compact. The tribe has been negotiating with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for a compact since February, when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of a ruling against the tribe, Roy said.

Roy said he believed the commission issued the order to pressure the tribe to continue negotiating. He said he plans to ask the commission for a one- or two-month stay of the casino closure on Monday.

Late last month authorities investigating allegations of embezzlement raided the casino and the homes of several tribal leaders. But Roy said the order to close the casino isn't related to the May 25 raid.