While Nevada’s number one industry is gaming and the resorts, entertainment and sports have grown around them. It’s been an enduring, successful combination because it fits the needs of visitors — but also because of the strong controls and oversight of the Nevada Gaming Control Board. But some have recently questioned that oversight, as stories about money laundering, casinos not allowing gaming agents on property, and more have emerged in recent months.
While that was going on, the Global Gaming Expo came to Las Vegas. It’s a convention where ideas, trends, and new gaming gizmos are discussed and put on display.
Here's a sample of gaming topics that were discussed — or not! — during the Oct. 10-13 event, as reported on by Casino Life editor-in-chief and Las Vegas Advisor gaming columnist David McKee:
- Gaming compliance got a mention with regards to AI, or artificial intelligence — more on that in a bit — but it was the elephant in the room when it came to recent issues about gaming and illegality at MGM Grand, Resorts World, Wynn, and more. "Everybody pretty much tiptoed around that topic, which is ironic, considering it is dominating the headlines so much right now," said McKee.
- McKee argues that Nevada's Gaming Control Board has projected a hands-off attitude with the gaming industry — which has come with consequences in the form of the federal government. "The gaming industry has shown, and I don't mean to be overly critical of it, but it's pushed the envelope as far as it can, and sometimes further than it should, " he said. "And you really have to have a vigilant control board, a regulation body to keep them in line. Lately, that has fallen to the federal government, which is the last thing a state like Nevada should want because the reason that Nevada's regulatory apparatus was set up in the first place by Grant Sawyer was to prevent the federal government from stepping in and regulating the casino industry from Washington, DC. We could still see that happen in a de facto sort of way, if the laxity of the current control board keeps on."
- Enter artificial intelligence and its compliance-oversight potential, "particularly in areas ... like revenue reports, for instance, where you have massive amounts of data," said McKee. "Suspicious activity reports were also mentioned in this context, massive amounts of data which are being generated and sometimes handled in what one panelist at G2E described in a 'garbage in garbage out' manner. Now artificial intelligence — or advanced analytics, as some prefer to think of it — is a way it has been said to streamline and speed up these kinds of reporting, which you would think would help a body like the regulatory agency in Nevada, which is traditionally undermanned and underfunded."
- G2E discussion on AI also explored responsible gaming. How could it help? "There's a large amount of player-tracking data that's involved, and we're in early innings as far as applying this to responsible gaming, but it's something that could streamline the way in which this data is processed," said McKee. "And it was described as very good for tailoring messages to individual players, identifying the ones with disordered habits, and targeting messaging to them to try and bring their behavior into line."
- Smoking bans in casinos — only currently in place in Las Vegas at Park MGM — were also a hot topic. Health concerns abound, the smoking rate is falling, but most casinos still believe it's essential to business. However, there is evidence to the contrary, said McKee. "There's a huge chasm between the tribal casino industry, which has been very responsive to the desires of nonsmokers and has mostly gone nonsmoking at this point, and the private sector industry, which is digging its heels in," he said. "In New Jersey and Pennsylvania and Nevada especially, [they're] refusing to even consider going totally smoke-free. They claim that it's going to put them out of business, at least partially. But there's never been an instance of a casino going out of business because it went no smoking. And MGM repeatedly says that they're doing well at Park MGM on the Strip. ... There's a very good question to be had as to why the private sector clings so bitterly to smoking for all, as opposed to clean air for all."
Guest: David McKee, editor-in-chief, Casino Life magazine and gaming columnist, Las Vegas Advisor
