Inside Asian Gaming

inside asian gaming JUNE 2015 38 Gambling and the law W hen hotel-casinos first opened in Atlantic City, operators found themselves wrapped up in red tape. Every time they filed a petition with the New Jersey Casino Control Commission, they had to deliver 17 separate copies. This was before email, so some poor secretaries had to physically photocopy, collate and staple 17 separate packets, plus a fewmore for the companies’ executives and lawyers. And hotel-casinos had to file lots of petitions. Everything was regulated. Restaurants had to get permission from the NJCCC if they wanted to move kitchen equipment. Casinos all had to use the same color felt on their gaming tables. Advertisements had to be pre-approved, and could not mention certain information, like the payout odds on slot machines. Somebody finally asked the regulators what they did with those 17 separate copies. The NJCCC looked into it, and admitted that they did not know where they all went. So the 17 copies rule was dropped. The problems created by over-regulation can be a lot worse than tons of wasted paper and unnecessary photocopying costs. The pre-censorship of casino advertising infringed on important first amendment rights for both the operators and patrons. Players, for example, might have found it useful to know which casinos offered the best odds. The NJCCC was not anti-gambling, except to the extent they thought they were Is This Rule Really Necessary? By Prof. I. Nelson Rose Prof. I. Nelson Rose is recognized as one of the world’s leading experts on gambling law and is a consultant and expert witness for governments, the industry and players. His latest books, “Internet Gaming Law” (1st and 2nd editions), “Blackjack and the Law”, “Gaming Law: Cases and Materials” and “Gaming Law in a Nutshell” are available through his website, www.GamblingAndTheLaw.com . supposed to be. New Jersey was only the second state in the US to legalize casinos. Legislators had visited Nevada and made it clear that they did not like what they saw. The rule against advertising game odds was in response to billboards in Las Vegas shouting “Loosest slots!”, which the New Jerseyans found distasteful. Kitchens had to be measured because the casino enabling statute had requirements on the square footage for gaming and non-gaming areas. Table felts were all the same color, as were gaming chips, so that regulators would have no trouble reviewing eye-in-the-sky security videotapes. Social scientists have discovered what can be considered universal truths about regulatory agencies. Regulators tend to start out overly-strict, although they eventually become overly-friendly with the industries they control. Government bureaucracies continue to grow, even when the businesses they are regulating are shrinking. And a rule, once put down on paper, lasts until ... well, forever. Probably the most important, and overlooked, characteristic of all regulatory agencies is that they gain lives of their own, sometimes completely separated from the real world. Rules are applied simply because they have always been applied. Businesses continued to be restricted not only when those restrictions are no longer needed, but even when the regulations directly hurt the very people they are supposed to protect. One of the first things that gets lost is the reason behind the rules. When casinos were first legalized in New