Nevada regulators open to VIP gaming salon rule changes to boost visitation, revenue

Thursday, December 12, 2024 9:11 PM
Photo:  Shutterstock
  • Buck Wargo, CDC Gaming

The Nevada Gaming Control Board is open to making changes to 23-year-old regulations governing high-end gaming salons. As proposed by the resort industry, salons would be accessible to the public when not in private use, and allow games such as poker when they’re private, as a way to attract more visitors to the state and generate more revenue.

The Board held a hearing Thursday afternoon, taking testimony from industry representatives and indicating how receptive they were to accommodating the industry’s request. No proposals have been written yet and any changes would go before the Board and the Nevada Gaming Commission in 2025.

Virginia Valentine, CEO of the Nevada Resort Association that represents 75 resorts statewide, said the input and feedback she has received from her diverse membership has been positive when it comes to changing gaming salon regulations.

Currently, the financial criterion for admission of a patron to a gaming salon includes a up-front deposit of at least $300,000, a $300,000 line of credit, or a combination of the two totaling at least $300,000. The industry would like to see that price of entry reduced, or eliminated.

“The $300,000 limit, for example, is a barrier or limit for some of those properties in Northern Nevada so it would be helpful to make changes there,” Valentine said. “You have recognized that a salon gamer is not the same in every market and every season, and depending on what type of events are happening in town.” 

Valentine said when state law was amended for salons in 2001 there was mention of being competitive, and now that gaming has spread across the globe, there’s been an evolution in the type of guest Las Vegas in particular gets in an environment driven by sports, entertainment, and special events. 

Ellen Whittemore, executive vice president and general counsel at Wynn Resorts, set the tone at the beginning of  the workshop by saying gaming salons play a valuable part in making Nevada the entertainment and gaming capital of the world. Every major operator has at least one private gaming salon, she added. 

Whittemore laid out four suggestions, some that require regulatory amendments while others require changes in interpretation. 

Number one is that licensees should be able to convert their private gaming salons to public gaming salons irrespective of the location, Whittemore said. Those not located adjacent to the casino floor should be able to function as both public and private gaming spaces provided that when open as public gaming there’s appropriate signage to direct the public to that area, she added. 

“This is consistent with the current practice of the Board to allow licensees to convert private gaming salons that are adjacent to the casino with the appropriate signage,” Whittemore said. “This is also consistent with the current position of the Board to allow public gaming far from the main casino floor such as the top floor of the casino resort as is the current configuration at a major Las Vegas casino.” 

Whittemore’s second suggestion is that poker be allowed in salons when they are in private status. There are questions whether the regulations allow that but she said poker can be considered a table game. Nothing in the regulations, however, prohibits card games in private salons, she added. 

The third suggestion is that the Board should reconsider the minimum credit limit and time period a guest of the salon’s patron can wager in the salon without the patron being present. Currently, that limit is six hours. 

“We believe it would be beneficial to change the time period to 24 hours to allow guests of a salon patron to continue gaming after the salon patron departs,” Whittemore said. “The reason is the salons must remain staffed while in private gaming, and allowing guests of the patron to continue gaming with the presence of the patron will help to earn taxable gaming revenue when the salon would otherwise be empty.” 

If poker were permitted in the gaming salon, the six-hour time limit would need to be extended since poker games can take longer than that to compete, Whittemore pointed out. 

“The other idea of the credit limit worked in the days when the salons were limited to international gaming customers,” Whittemore said. “It’s not appropriate today. For Wynn, the minimum of $300,000 is probably not an issue but for many of our fellow operations the $300,000 minimum limit is a little high.” 

The fourth suggestion is that slot minimum bets should be set at the discretion of the licensee as it currently is for table games. The existing minimum is $500 for slot play. 

Charlie Stone, executive vice president of casino operations and marketing at Wynn, said the ability to make private gaming salons public when not in private use, offers a new amenity and experience that can drive loyalty for a lot of guests coming to Las Vegas. 

“This includes high net-worth individuals, celebrities, athletes and others that might find benefit in an experience away from the main casino floor,” Stone said. “There’s also added security and safety as well. When people are wagering high amounts of money, they don’t always want to be in the center of the casino. This could drive loyalty to the property, the city, and state and create more frequency in trips and attract new customers as well.” 

As for the poker changes, Stone said there have been a lot of trends over the years. and one is an increase in high-limit poker games. In speaking with customers and employees, the idea of being in a private gaming salon is attractive to them, and the casino can drive more of these types of games, he noted. 

Whittemore added if private salons were allowed to go public, those areas are some of the nicest in the resort and being able to use them for tournaments and special events would be beneficial. 

“I know the state doesn’t get a lot of gaming revenue from poker but you get the incremental spend they spend when they are in the resort,” Whittemore said. “They are in our hotel rooms and go to our restaurants. They shop. Maybe, we won’t see the same kind of revenue if poker were put in a private gaming salon like you see from a traditional baccarat game, but you are seeing incremental spend. A lot of these poker players are also sports bettors.”

The industry’s request was met encouragingly by the Board.

Board member Brittnie Watkins said she’s constantly in awe of the industry and licensees’ “creativity in reshaping the industry as a whole and imagining things anew and pushing forward new ideas to change regulations. You all are brilliant and creative.” 

Board member George Assad said the licensee requirement of $300,000 was “ill-advised back in the day” and there’s no need for it today. He added the resort industry would be better served if it were eliminated, enabling casinos to do what they need to do to thrive. 

“If you look at other jurisdictions, if we don’t get ahead of the curve on this, players can go to New Jersey, Monte Carlo, Macau, and Dubai and find a private salon to satisfy their desire to gamble in privacy and security,” according to Assad, who called on the industry to help draft regulations or legislation, including poker in addition to the slot machines and table games currently allowed. 

Board Chair Kirk Hendrick said he doesn’t think any legislative changes will be necessary and instead called for a regulatory change. In some cases, the Board chair could make changes based on regulations currently drafted after getting feedback from the other two members, he noted. 

“If the industry or any stakeholders have comments, suggestions about regulatory changes, and things we mentioned today like ease of access if there’s public salon activity [let us know],” Hendrick said. “It has to be easy to find, and signage has to point them in the right direction and is easy to get to. We should take a chance after 20 years to be sure that our enforcement ability is as available as possible. The regulations require surveillance and security. If you are playing a higher level of gaming in Nevada, you want to be sure if you are moving cash around through a marker and someone sees you are playing a high level of money, we want to be sure we protect our customers in the state of Nevada and that they feel secure when they come here.”