HOLLYWOOD TOLEDO
Casino agrees to pay fines for rule violations
8/17/2013Hollywood Casino Toledo committed several administrative code violations and could be sanctioned, according to the Ohio Casino Control Commission.
The commission sent a notice of violation in June to the East Toledo casino, detailing several violations stemming from the operation of a blackjack table in an area without video surveillance and the repeated use of slot machines that had not been verified or sealed by the commission.
This is the first notice of violation for the Toledo casino, and the third such action by the commission in the state. Horseshoe Casino Cleveland was twice issued notices this year, and was fined a total of $195,000 for numerous violations, commission spokesman Tama Davis said.
Casino operators who receive notices of violations can contest the allegations in a hearing, or work out a settlement agreement with the commission. Hollywood waived its hearing, agreed to the facts alleged in the violation report, and reached a proposed settlement, according to commission documents.
The proposed settlement agreement includes a fine of $30,000 against the casino. The commission meets Wednesday, and it must vote to accept the settlement before it is official, Ms. Davis said.
A spokesman for Hollywood said the casino had no comment.
The violation report says Hollywood requested and received approval in February to move several table games, including a blackjack table. The casino was supposed to ensure there would be surveillance in the new locations before the moves.
Hollywood opened the blackjack table at its new location on March 14, and play continued for about six hours. There was no video surveillance of the table during that time, according to the report.
The table was open again for about 90 minutes with some video surveillance, but the report calls it inadequate.
The lack of surveillance meant that the initial table fill of about $36,000 was not observed on video.
The Toledo slot machine violations occurred in March, according to the report. The casino let a patron use a slot machine before it was verified by the commission, and later removed machines from play, shut them down for a system upgrade, then returned them to play without commission verification or seal.
Contact Nolan Rosenkrans at: nrosenkrans@theblade.com or 419-724-6086, or on Twitter @NolanRosenkrans.