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\tBy HOWARD STUTZ
\n\tLAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
\n\tOwners of the Peppermill Casino in Reno agreed to pay a $1 million fine to state gaming regulators after an employee was caught using a common slot machine \u201creset\u201d key on games operated by competing Northern Nevada casinos to steal proprietary information.<\/p>\n
\tAccording to a stipulated settlement filed Thursday, Peppermill management condoned the employee\u2019s activities and encouraged him to gather the information.<\/p>\n
\tA three-count complaint against the Peppermill was filed at the same time as the agreement. The Nevada Gaming Commission is expected to rule on the matter when it meets next week in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n
\tThe Peppermill is privately owned by a multiple family partnership and is one of Reno\u2019s largest casinos. The property has 1,600 hotel rooms, an 80,000-square-foot casino, 106,000 square feet of convention space and 10 restaurants.<\/p>\n
\tIn the complaint, the Control Board said the Peppermill was operating in \u201can unsuitable manner\u201d when Ryan Tors, a corporate analyst for the casino, was caught in July using a reset key on several slot machines at the Grand Sierra.<\/p>\n
\tBy using the key, the Peppermill employee was able to learn certain diagnostic information about the slot machine, such as play history, hold percentages, event logs and game configuration.<\/p>\n
\tDuring the investigation, the board found that Tors gathered information on slot machines at the Grand Sierra and at 10 other Northern Nevada casinos, including the Eldorado, Circus Circus Reno, Siena, Atlantis, Rail City in Sparks, and two casinos in Wendover.<\/p>\n
\tAccording to the complaint, Tors had been gathering the information since 2011.<\/p>\n
\tThe investigation revealed that Peppermill management approved and directed Tors to obtain the theoretical hold percentage information from the competition\u2019s slot machines using the \u201creset\u201d key.<\/p>\n
\tBoard members said the Peppermill\u2019s actions \u201cconstitute a failure \u2026 to exercise discretion and sound judgment to prevent incidents which might reflect on the repute of the state of Nevada and act as a detriment to the development of the industry.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tPeppermill President William Paganetti signed off on the settlement.<\/p>\n
\tThe fine, if approved, would be the second seven-figure penalty handed down in less that month by the agency. In January, CG Technologies, formerly Cantor Gaming, agreed to pay a record $5.5 million fine after a former company executive was caught accepting illegal wagers.<\/p>\n
\tJim Barbee, chief of the Control Board\u2019s technology division, said the key \u2014 known in the industry as a 2341 key \u2014 is a common tool used by slot machine technicians to gather information or reset a game following verification of large jackpot. Most keys are generic and work on slot machines of all manufacturers.<\/p>\n
\tUsing the key doesn\u2019t allow access to a slot\u2019s inner workings and won\u2019t change the outcome of a game.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThe key gives the technician access the device\u2019s program information,\u201d Barbee said. \u201cThe key allows you to read that information. It\u2019s a generic key in the industry.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tIt\u2019s also an item available to the public, but not through normal channels. A check on eBay.com found more than a dozen listings for a \u201cslot machine reset key\u201d or a \u201c2341 key\u201d for several manufacturers, including International Game Technology, Bally Technologies and WMS Industries. Prices ranged from $2.99 for a single key to nearly $100 for 72 keys.<\/p>\n
Posted by:<\/strong> TommyC on February 15, 2014, 1:24 am<\/p>\n By HOWARD STUTZ LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL Owners of the Peppermill Casino in Reno agreed to pay a $1 million fine to state gaming regulators after an employee was caught using a common slot machine \u201creset\u201d key on games operated by…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-casino-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6984","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6984"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6984\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}And I thought I was competitive in the workplace. LOL<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"