Control Board looks at behavior issue in latest Hard Rock license

Gaming regulators showed that they’re keeping vigilant on policing behavior at nightclubs and pool parties in Las Vegas.

The state Gaming Control Board questioned Mark Gore, vice president and casino general manager at the Hard Rock, about the resort’s pool party security.

Gore appeared before the board Oct. 1 in Carson City for a key employee license.

The board ultimately voted unanimously to recommend approval of the licensing for consideration by the Nevada Gaming Commission on Oct. 15.

Board members were impressed that Gore anticipated that line of questioning and brought Roosevelt Howard, security director at the Hard Rock, to offer additional details about the property’s efforts to control crowds and prevent illegal acts.

Howard told regulators that the resort staff has undergone training overseen by Metro and that workers were instructed to watch for warning signs of trouble.

Bags are searched for banned substances and Hard Rock employees routinely patrol the area and conduct welfare checks on guests.

“Our first goal is to protect guests and employees and our license,” Howard told the board. “We take that responsibility very seriously.”

Behavioral problems at casino nightclubs and pool parties have made headlines in recent months and the Hard Rock’s Rehab pool parties and Planet Hollywood’s Prive nightclub have been on regulators’ radar.

Regulators were tipped off about activity at Prive when a former employee there wrote a letter describing a scene of illegal drug use, of managers allowing underage patrons into the club and serving alcohol to those underage guests.

The year-long investigation led to Planet Hollywood being fined $500,000 and Gaming Control Board member Randall Sayre conducted an industry meeting in September to discuss operational issues, including the oversight of clubs and pools.

Sayre told those in attendance that there wouldn’t be any more warnings from regulators and that disciplinary actions would occur if there were any further problems.

At the board meeting, Sayre praised the Hard Rock for its proactive approach.

“I think you’re showing that safety can be addressed and you can still make money,” he said before the vote to recommend Gore’s licensing.

In other business, the board recommended approval of the licensing of LV Casino LLC to operate the Lake Tahoe Horizon Casino and the suitability and key employee licensing of Joseph Yung to oversee the Horizon and the Las Vegas Casuarina.

Board members spent more than an hour questioning Yung about parent company Wimar Tahoe Corp. and Yung’s father, William Yung, who had his gaming license revoked in New Jersey and frequently disputed with the Culinary Union during his operation of the Tropicana in Las Vegas.

Robert Yung no longer operates the Tropicana but regulators were leery of his influence in the operation of the Lake Tahoe property in light of the New Jersey regulators fining his company, Columbia-Sussex $750,000 and not renewing his license for operational failings in 2007.

Regulators noted that Nevada has different operating standards than New Jersey and recommended approval of the licensing.

The board also recommended licensing of United Coin to operate a temporary casino on the site of Beaches on Paradise Road and Convention Center Drive to preserve the grandfathered gaming license at that address.