Ohio new bill allows casino employees to gamble in other casinos

Casino employees being barred from gambling and even trying their luck to play slots or wagers in other casinos was a big no. However now there is certainly good news for all the casino employees who love gambling in some form. Ohio Senate has passed a bill allowing casino employees to play slots and wagers in casinos where they are not employees. This bill has finally sailed through after trying to be passed unsuccessfully twice last year. So third time it was a lucky time for the bill to be passed the State Senate which allows all the casino employees the freedom to gamble at any place other than their own work place.

As per Cleveland.com this House bill 32 introduced by Rep. Bill Seitz, was passed unopposed by a 32-0 vote in the Senate. Thus the bill now paves a way for all the casino employees to gamble which earlier was forbidden for them at any of the Ohio’s four casinos. Now with this bill being passed by the Senate a casino operator or employee can now “participate in casino gaming at a casino facility, so long as the operator or employee does not have an interest in the facility, is not employed at the facility and does not have an interest or employment at an affiliated facility in Ohio.”

Until now casino and racino employees were not allowed to gamble in other gaming jurisdictions fearing that they might use their internal knowledge and may mix up with other employees to cheat. As per the law if anybody found violating this rule can be slapped with a first-degree misdemeanour charge, which is punishable by a maximum of 180 days in jail and a $1,000 fine under the Casino Control Law enacted in September 2010. However as per the Ohio Legislative Service Commission no employees have been charged with a violation of this prohibited conduct.

Ohio Casino Control Commission executive director Matthew Schuler stated that this change will bring the state “into alignment with neighbouring jurisdictions where such an approach has proven fair and still maintains the integrity of casino gaming.”