1 1 STATE OF NEW JERSEY 2 CASINO CONTROL COMMISSION 3 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 4 5 PUBLIC MEETING NO. 10-08-18 6 7 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 8 9 Wednesday, August 18, 2010 10 Atlantic City Commission Offices 11 Joseph P. Lordi Public Meeting Room - First Floor 12 Tennessee Avenue and Boardwalk 13 Atlantic City, New Jersey 08401 14 10:38 a.m. to 11:25 a.m. 15 16 17 Certified Court Reporter: Darlene Sillitoe 18 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 19 20 ATLANTIC CITY COURT REPORTING, LLC 21 CERTIFIED COURT REPORTERS AND VIDEOGRAPHERS 22 1125 ATLANTIC AVENUE, SUITE 700 23 ATLANTIC CITY, NEW JERSEY 08401 24 (609) 345-8448 www.accourtreporting.com 25 2 1 B E F O R E : 2 CASINO CONTROL COMMISSION: LINDA M. KASSEKERT, CHAIR 3 SHARON ANNE HARRINGTON, VICE CHAIR MICHAEL C. EPPS, COMMISSIONER 4 WILLIAM T. SOMMELING, COMMISSIONER EDWARD J. FANELLE, COMMISSIONER 5 6 PRESENT FOR THE CASINO CONTROL COMMISSION: DARYL W. NANCE, ADMINISTRATIVE ANALYST 7 DANIEL J. HENEGHAN, PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER 8 OFFICE OF THE GENERAL COUNSEL: DIANNA W. FAUNTLEROY, GENERAL COUNSEL/EXECUTIVE 9 SECRETARY TERESA M. NAGENGAST, SENIOR COUNSEL 10 SETH H. BRILLIANT, SENIOR COUNSEL LON E. MAMOLEN, SENIOR COUNSEL 11 CLAIRE FRANK, PROGRAM MANAGER BERNADETTE T. FRIGEN, PROGRAM SUPERVISOR 12 SANDRA DeLIA, LEGAL SUPPORT SPECIALIST 13 DIVISION OF GAMING ENFORCEMENT: DEPUTY ATTORNEYS GENERAL 14 BRIAN C. BISCIEGLIA, DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL TIMOTHY C. FICCHI, DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL 15 MARY JO FLAHERTY, DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL CHARLES F. KIMMEL, DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL 16 LOUIS ROGACKI, DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL R. LANE STEBBINS, DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 3 1 A P P E A R A N C E S : 2 ITEM NO. 4 TERESA M. NAGENGAST, SENIOR COUNSEL LOUIS ROGACKI, DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL 3 MICHAEL & CARROLL GUY S. MICHAEL, ESQ. 4 FOR: TAI PAN VACATION, INC., AND FRANCIS YIU MING WAT 5 ITEM NO. 8 TERESA M. NAGENGAST, SENIOR COUNSEL 6 LOUIS ROGACKI, DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL COOPER LEVENSON 7 LYNNE L. KAUFMAN, ESQ. FOR: HARRAH'S ATLANTIC CITY 8 ITEM NO. 9 TERESA M. NAGENGAST, SENIOR COUNSEL 9 LOUIS ROGACKI, DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL FOX ROTHSCHILD, LLP 10 MARIEL J. GILETTO, ESQ. FOR: P. F. CHANG'S CHINA BISTRO, INC. 11 ITEM NO. 10 CLAIRE FRANK, PROGRAM MANAGER 12 MARY JO FLAHERTY, DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL TAMA B. HUGHES, ESQ. 13 FOR: TROPICANA ENTERTAINMENT, INC. AND TROPICANA ATLANTIC CITY CORP. 14 ITEM NO. 12 SETH H. BRILIANT, SENIOR COUNSEL 15 CHARLES F. KIMMEL, DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL LEO PREVITI, ESQ. 16 FOR: IGT 17 ITEM NO. 16 SETH H. BRILIANT, SENIOR COUNSEL CHARLES F. KIMMEL, DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL 18 MICHAEL MAGAZZU, ESQ. FOR: HARRAH'S ENTITIES 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 4 1 AGENDA PUBLIC MEETING NO. 10-08-18 2 August 18, 2010, 10:38 a.m. ITEM PAGE VOTE 3 1 Ratification of the minutes of the 8 8 August 4, 2010, public meeting 4 2 Applications for employee and casino service industry licenses 5 6 initial and/or renewal of casino key 9 9 and casino employee licenses 6 5 initial and/or renewal of casino key 9 9 and casino employee licenses 7 3 Stipulations of settlement and consent agreements: a) Avner Copes (07-0236-ER) 10 11 8 b) Delores D. Jones (10-0005-ER) 10 11 c) Jairo M. Garcia-Marulanda (09-0545-RC) 10 11 9 d) Edwin Torres (09-0243-ER) 10 11 4 Stipulation in settlement in application 12 15 10 of Francis Yiu Ming Wat; and renewal application of Tai Pan Vacation, Inc. 11 (t/a Tai Pan Tours, Tai Pan Club) and qualifications of Francis Yiu Ming Wat and 12 Fion Muoi Muoi Tran (08-0472-EA, 08-0471-SR) 5 Petitions for early reapplication: 13 a) Doneesha T. Cross (10-0189-RA) 16 21 sworn 18 14 b) Samuel Jean (10-0191-RA) 6 Applications for suspension: 24 26 15 a) Wayne Games (10-02 -RC) b) Benedykt Nitka (10-0248-RC) 16 c) Edmond J. Distefano (10-0249-RC) d) Carrie Eckstadt (10-0245-RC) 17 e) Dorothy Lum (10-0247-RC) 7 Consideration of forfeiture orders in: 26 28 18 a) Trump Plaza Associates, et al. (10-0061-VC) 19 b) Trump Taj Mahal Associates, et al. (10-0158-VC) 20 8 Petition of Jefferson Wells International 28 30 for an exemption from non-gaming casino 21 service industry licensure (PRN 1191002) 9 Petition of P. F. Chang's China Bistro, 31 33 22 Inc., for waiver of qualification requirement of Kornitzer Capital Management, Inc. 23 (PRN 2071001) 10 Petition of Tropicana Entertainment, Inc. 33 36 24 and Tropicana Atlantic City Corp., for permission for C. Phillip Fortino to assume 25 the duties and exercise the powers of Vice 5 1 CONTINUED AGENDA PUBLIC MEETING NO. 10-08-18 2 August 18, 2010, 10:38 a.m. ITEM PAGE VOTE 3 President Human Resources for Tropicana Entertainment, Inc., pursuant to NJAC 4 19:43-2.7(c) (PRN 2071001) 11 Proposed readoption of NJAC 19:42 36 37 5 (applications) 12 Petition of IGT and Marina District 37 39 6 Development Company, LLC (d/b/a Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa) for permission to 7 transfer progressive instant-pay jackpots pursuant to NJAC 19:45-1.39(n) (PRN 2071005) 8 13 Petition of IGT and Tropicana Atlantic 40 41 City Corp (d/b/a Tropicana Casino and Resort) 9 for permission to transfer progressive instant-pay slot jackpots pursuant to NJAC 10 19:45-1.39(n) (PRN 2071004) 14 Petition of IGT and Trump Marina 41 42 11 Associates, LLC, for permission to transfer progressive instant-pay slot jackpots 12 pursuant to NJAC 19:45-1.39(n) (PRN 2071003) 15 Petition of IGT and Resorts International 43 13 Hotel, Inc., for permission to transfer withdrawn progressive multi-level instant-pay slot 14 jackpots pursuant to NJAC 19:45-1.39(n) (PRN 2111007) 15 16 Petition of Harrah's Atlantic City 43 52 Operating Company, LLC, Showboat Atlantic 16 City Operating Company, LLC, Bally's Park Place, Inc., and Boardwalk Regency Corp., 17 for approval of a Multi-Casino Bad Beat Payout System agreement pursuant to NJAC 18 19:45-1.39(d) and a test of the system pursuant to NJSA 5:12-69(e) (PRN 2221002) 19 Vicky Lynn Guveiyian, sworn 46 17 Proposed publication and temporary 52 53 20 adoption of amendments to NJAC 19:47-14.8 and 14.9 (Seven-Card Stud Low) 21 18 Proposed publication of amendments and 53 55 new rules for "Mini-Tex 3 Card Hold 'Em" 22 PUBLIC PARTICIPATION: Harold Gladstone 55 23 24 25 6 1 E X H I B I T S : 2 NO. DESCRIPTION EVD 3 4 P-1 Remand for hearings 6 license X 5 P-2 Grant 5 licenses X 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 (Exhibits retained by Commission.) 25 7 1 (Public Meeting 10-08-18 was commenced 2 at 10:38 a.m.) 3 MR. NANCE: Good morning. I'd like to 4 read an opening statement: 5 This is to advise the general public 6 that in compliance with Chapter 231 of the 7 public laws of 1975 entitled the "Open Public 8 Meeting Act," the New Jersey Casino Control 9 Commission on October 15, 2009, filed with the 10 Secretary of State at the State House in 11 Trenton, New Jersey, a notice of this hearing. 12 On October 16, copies were mailed to 13 subscribers. 14 Members of the press will be permitted 15 to take photographs, and we ask that this be 16 done in a manner which is not disruptive or 17 distracting to the Commission. 18 The use of cell phones in the public 19 meeting room is prohibited. 20 Any member of the public who wish to 21 address the Commission will be given the 22 opportunity to do so before the Commission 23 adjourns for the day. 24 Please stand for the Pledge of 25 Allegiance. 8 ITME NO. 1 1 (The flag salute was recited.) 2 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Good morning. 3 MR. NANCE: Good morning. The matters 4 discussed in closed session were: Employee and 5 enterprise license matters. 6 The Commission approved the August 4th, 7 2010, closed-session minutes. 8 And litigation update regarding: 9 Edwards versus Adamar of New Jersey, Inc., et 10 al. 11 Item No. 1, ratification of the minutes 12 of the August 4th, 2010, public meeting. 13 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: Move to 14 approve. 15 VICE CHAIR HARRINGTON: Second. 16 CHAIR KASSEKERT: The motion has been 17 made and seconded. All in favor? 18 (Ayes.) 19 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Opposed? 20 (No response.) 21 CHAIR KASSEKERT: The motion carries. 22 MR. NANCE: Item No. 2, applications for 23 employee and casino service industry licenses. 24 This agenda item will be entered as Exhibit 25 List 1 and 2. 9 ITME NO. 2 1 Exhibit List 1 consists of six 2 applications for initial and/or renewal of 3 casino key and casino employee license. 4 The Division has objected to licensure. 5 COMMISSIONER EPPS: Move we remand for 6 hearings. 7 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: Second. 8 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Motion has been made 9 and seconded. All in favor? 10 (Ayes.) 11 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Opposed? 12 (No response.) 13 CHAIR KASSEKERT: The motion carries. 14 MR. NANCE: Exhibit List 2 consists of 15 five applications for initial and/or renewal of 16 casino key and casino employee licenses. 17 Staff and the Division has recommended 18 that these license be granted. 19 COMMISSIONER EPPS: Move to grant 20 applications. 21 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: Second. 22 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Motion has been made 23 and seconded. All in favor? 24 (Ayes.) 25 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Opposed? 10 ITME NO. 3 1 (No response.) 2 CHAIR KASSEKERT: The motion carries. 3 MR. NANCE: Item No. 3, stipulation of 4 settlement and consent agreements. When I call 5 your name, please come forward, stand behind 6 this middle table, spreading across the room so 7 you that you may be seen: Avner Copes, Delores 8 Jones, Jairo Garcia-Marulanda, and Edward 9 Torres. 10 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Has everybody whose 11 name been called come forward at this time? 12 I'm going to ask that each of you state 13 your name for the record, beginning with you, 14 ma'am. 15 MS. JONES: Delores Jones. 16 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Sir? 17 MR. TORRES: Edwin Torres. 18 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Okay. Can you state 19 your name for the record? 20 MR. COPES: Avner Copes. 21 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Okay. In a moment we 22 are going to vote on the stipulations which 23 you've agreed to with the Division of Gaming 24 Enforcement. I'm going to ask at this point if 25 any of you wish to be heard on your matter. 11 ITME NO. 3 1 You don't have to say anything if you don't 2 want to. 3 Does anyone wish to be heard? 4 (No response.) 5 CHAIR KASSEKERT: No? 6 Mr. Biscieglia? 7 MR. BISCIEGLIA: Thank you. 8 Good morning, Chair, Commissioners. 9 The Division has nothing further and ask 10 that the stipulations be approved as submitted. 11 Thank you. 12 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Thank you. 13 Any questions? 14 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: No questions, 15 Madame Chair. 16 COMMISSIONER EPPS: Move that we approve 17 the stipulations. 18 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: Second. 19 CHAIR KASSEKERT: The motion has been 20 made and seconded. All in favor? 21 (Ayes.) 22 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Opposed? 23 (No response.) 24 CHAIR KASSEKERT: The motion carries. 25 Thank you for coming. Good luck. 12 ITME NO. 4 1 MS. JONES: Thank you. 2 MR. NANCE: Item No. 4, stipulation of 3 settlement in application of Francis Yiu Ming 4 Wat and renewal application of Tai Pan 5 Vacation, Inc., and qualification of Francis 6 Yiu Ming Wat and Fion Muoi Muoi Tran. 7 Miss Nagengast? 8 MS. NAGENGAST: Good morning, Chair and 9 Commissioners. 10 For your consideration is the 11 stipulation of settlement in two separate 12 matters. The first is the renewal application 13 of Tai Pan Vacation and the second is that 14 application for Francis Wat for a casino key 15 employee license. Pursuant to the terms of the 16 stipulation of settlement, all the parties will 17 be permitted to withdraw their individual 18 applications and will be prohibited from 19 conducting any direct or indirect business 20 until they're license. But they can't file any 21 applications until August of 2015. 22 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Thank you. 23 Mr. Michael? 24 MR. MICHAEL: Guy Michael, Michael & 25 Carroll, on behalf of the Applicants. 13 ITME NO. 4 1 Miss Nagengast has accurately described 2 the settlement. It's been worked out with the 3 Division of Gaming Enforcement. We consent to 4 it, and we respectfully ask that you approve 5 it. 6 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Thank you. 7 Mr. Rogacki? 8 MR. ROGACKI: Madame Chair, 9 Commissioners, I think Miss Nagengast and Mr. 10 Michael have pretty much summed it up. We just 11 ask the Commission to adopt the stipulation of 12 settlement and, in particular, Paragraphs A 13 through G, I believe -- if I can flip the 14 pages. Through G. 15 And if you have any questions, I'll be 16 happy to answer them. 17 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Thank you. 18 Any questions? 19 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: No questions, 20 Madame Chair. 21 COMMISSIONER EPPS: Just one question. 22 A withdrawal is usually a year out. This after 23 withdrawal keeps them out for five years. 24 What's the difference? How does that -- how 25 did we get to that? 14 ITME NO. 4 1 MR. ROGACKI: The difference here was 2 that the Division on May 6th, 2008, filed a 3 letter report objecting to the licensure of 4 these companies. These individuals sold the 5 company that was seeking licensure in -- up in 6 Ontario rather than continue with the hearing 7 process for a company that no longer existed 8 and go through a situation where they could 9 reform the company, try to come back in New 10 Jersey. The agreement with -- through counsel 11 was that they would not reapply or seek 12 licensure for the next five years, and we 13 wouldn't have to go through any type of 14 hearing. So we agreed to allow them to just 15 withdraw the application. 16 COMMISSIONER EPPS: Okay. And that 17 was -- 18 MR. MICHAEL: That was satisfactory to 19 the Applicants. 20 COMMISSIONER EPPS: Okay. 21 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Any other questions? 22 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: No other 23 questions, Madame Chair. 24 COMMISSIONER FANELLE: Madame Chair, I 25 move we approve the stipulations of settlement 15 ITME NO. 4 1 and: A, permit Tai Pan Vacations, Inc., to 2 withdraw its renewal junket enterprise 3 applications for the licensing cycle covering 4 1996 through 2009; and, B, permit Mr. Wat to 5 withdraw his application as qualifier of Tai 6 Pan Vacation, Inc.; and, C, permit Mr. Wat to 7 withdraw his application for a casino key 8 employee license; and, D, permit Miss Tran to 9 withdraw her application as a qualifier of Tai 10 Pan Vacations, Inc.; and, E, prohibit Tai Pan 11 Vacations, Inc., or any business for which Mr. 12 Wat and/or Miss Tran are qualifiers or have any 13 direct or indirect interest from filing any 14 application for licensure or qualification or 15 conducting any business with or for the 16 Atlantic City casino industry until they are 17 licensed or found qualified by the New Jersey 18 Casino Control Commission, provided any license 19 application or request for a finding of 20 qualification is filed after August 18th, 2015. 21 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Is there a second? 22 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: Second. 23 CHAIR KASSEKERT: The motion has been 24 made and seconded. All in favor? 25 (Ayes.) 16 ITME NO. 5 1 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Opposed? 2 (No response.) 3 CHAIR KASSEKERT: The motion carries. 4 MR. MICHAEL: Thank you very much. 5 MR. ROGACKI: Thank you. 6 MR. NANCE: Item No. 5, petitions for 7 early reapplication: Doneesha Cross, Samuel 8 Jean. 9 Miss Frigen? 10 MS. FRIGEN: Good morning, Madame Chair, 11 Commissioners. Miss Cross is here. She's 12 having a seat at the table. 13 (Commissioner Epps steps down.) 14 MS. FRIGEN: For your consideration is 15 her petition seeking permission to reapply 16 early for a license, registration, and/or 17 noncredential hotel employment. 18 By letter dated July 2nd, the Division 19 has interposed no objection to Mrs. Cross's 20 request to reapply early for a registration or 21 to obtain noncredential hotel employment. 22 They've left whether or not to make her reapply 23 early for the casino license to the discretion 24 of the Commission. 25 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Thank you. 17 ITME NO. 5 1 Miss Cross, is there anything you would 2 like to say today? 3 MS. CROSS: No. No. I'm sorry. No. 4 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Okay. 5 Mr. Biscieglia? 6 MR. BISCIEGLIA: Thank you. 7 As Miss Frigen stated, the Division has 8 not objected to the petition seeking 9 noncredential employment or early reapplication 10 for a casino service employee registration. 11 While there was nothing in the record to 12 lead the Division to affirmatively recommend 13 denial of the petition regarding the casino 14 employee license, based on the lack of evidence 15 submitted by Miss Cross, there was really 16 nothing to lead to the Division being able to 17 affirmatively recommend granting the petition. 18 So, therefore, the Division will leave that 19 matter to the discretion of the Commission. 20 Thank you. 21 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Okay. Let me ask you, 22 Miss Cross. We were expecting you to provide 23 some letters, some information from other 24 individuals. Did that occur? 25 MR. NANCE: Could you stand and be 18 ITME NO. 5 1 sworn. 2 CHAIR KASSEKERT: And I guess we'll have 3 to swear you in. 4 5 DONEESHA T. CROSS, was duly sworn to 6 testify in this matter. 7 8 MR. NANCE: Please state your name for 9 the record. 10 MS. CROSS: Doneesha Cross. 11 MR. NANCE: Thank you. 12 MS. CROSS: I've asked -- 13 MR. NANCE: You may sit. 14 MS. CROSS: Oh. I've asked a couple 15 people for reference letters, and I guess it 16 was like miscommunications. Every time I 17 called, they'll say, you know, they're doing 18 it. They're doing it. And never did. And 19 when I went to previous employers where they 20 found they were actually working at, either 21 they were off or they weren't working, so it 22 was like bad timing with them as well. 23 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Okay. Let me ask if 24 any of the Commissioners have any questions or 25 remarks? 19 ITME NO. 5 1 VICE CHAIR HARRINGTON: Can you share 2 with us your reasoning as to why we should, in 3 fact, grant you a license at this time? 4 MS. CROSS: Yes. I'm just -- I made a 5 lot of changes. I'm just trying to support my 6 three children the best way I can. And right 7 now I'm currently off of -- living off of 8 Welfare. I'm really trying to get off of it, 9 and they make it so hard. Like I don't know. 10 I just can't really find anything, any job at 11 all, to help me support my family. I just 12 thought I'd take a chance trying to get back 13 into the casino. 14 VICE CHAIR HARRINGTON: And you can tell 15 us with assurance that you have changed and 16 that -- 17 MS. CROSS: Yes. Yes. I have. 18 VICE CHAIR HARRINGTON: You feel as if 19 you've been rehabilitated? 20 MS. CROSS: I've grown. Yes. 21 VICE CHAIR HARRINGTON: Okay. 22 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: Are you the 23 sole supporter of your family? 24 MS. CROSS: Yes. 25 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: And would it be 20 ITME NO. 5 1 expected of us that you could actually provide 2 some kind of references in the future? Or you 3 just think that people just said they would, 4 didn't do it and -- 5 MS. CROSS: No. I actually could. I 6 actually could. I just have to get on 7 everybody to do it. Like I said, I can get to 8 previous employers. I just have to find the 9 times they're working because they have no 10 problem, they said, giving me references or 11 anything. 12 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: Are you working 13 now? 14 MS. CROSS: No. 15 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: You're not. 16 I have no further questions, Madame 17 Chair. 18 VICE CHAIR HARRINGTON: I will move that 19 we grant Miss Cross permission to reapply early 20 for a casino employee license, a casino service 21 employee registration, and/or to obtain 22 employment early as a noncredential hotel 23 employee. 24 COMMISSIONER FANELLE: Second. 25 CHAIR KASSEKERT: The motion has been 21 ITME NO. 5 1 made and seconded. All in favor? 2 (Ayes.) 3 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Opposed? 4 (No response.) 5 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Motion -- 6 Opposed? No opposition? Motion 7 carries. 8 Thank you. 9 MS. FAUNTLEROY: I would note for the 10 record that Commissioners Epps had a conflict 11 and recused himself from these proceedings. 12 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Thank you. 13 You know, I think you heard Commissioner 14 Harrington talk to you a little bit about your 15 future. And, you know, we would urge you, you 16 know, by granting you this opportunity. And 17 licensing is a privilege. It's not a right. 18 We hope that you won't stray from that. 19 And -- and good luck in getting your 20 life back together, and good luck as you pursue 21 your opportunities. 22 MS. CROSS: Thank you. 23 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Thank you. 24 MS. FRIGEN: Okay. The next case we 25 have is a Samuel Jean? Let me ask if -- I did 22 ITME NO. 5 1 not see him, but let me ask if he is here or 2 represented? 3 (No response.) 4 MS. FRIGEN: Apparently not. 5 For your consideration is Mr. Jean's 6 petition seeking permission to reapply early 7 for a registration and/or to obtain 8 noncredential hotel employment. 9 The Division opposed his request to 10 reapply early for a registration but did not 11 oppose his request to obtain noncredential 12 hotel employment. 13 I would note last week Mr. Jean did 14 bring in a couple additional -- some additional 15 support documentation, three reference letters, 16 and documentation pertaining to his HVAC 17 training. I was expecting him here today. But 18 for whatever reason, he is not. 19 I leave this matter to the Commission's 20 discretion. 21 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Okay. Mr. Biscieglia? 22 MR. BISCIEGLIA: Thank you. 23 As Miss Frigen stated, the Division does 24 not object to a granting of the noncredential 25 relief sought by the Respondent. 23 ITME NO. 5 1 However, regards to the registration, 2 Mr. Jean had been arrested on two separate 3 occasions, arrested and charged on two separate 4 occasions since the incident that led to the 5 original revocation. 6 The February 21st, 2007, conviction for 7 possession of CDS has also resulted in four 8 separate violations of probation due to 9 repeated failing of drug screenings. And he 10 did test -- he did clear a drug screening on 11 his last -- pardon me -- as of September 9th, 12 2009, at the time this letter report was 13 written. 14 Also on August 6th of 2010, he was 15 convicted of failure to consent for samples of 16 breath in regards to a driving under the 17 influence. And, oh -- I'm sorry. Regarding 18 the February 21st, 2007, conviction, that was 19 not disclosed on the petition. 20 So based on those factors, the Division 21 must recommend the denial of the relief sought 22 in regards to the casino service employee 23 registration. 24 Thank you. 25 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Thank you. 24 ITME NO. 6 1 Any questions for the Division? 2 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: No questions, 3 Madame Chair. 4 COMMISSIONER EPPS: Madame Chair, I move 5 that we deny Mr. Jean's request to reapply 6 early for a casino service employee 7 registration, but grant Mr. Jean permission to 8 obtain employment early as a noncredential 9 hotel employee. 10 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: Second. 11 CHAIR KASSEKERT: The motion has been 12 made and seconded. All in favor? 13 (Ayes.) 14 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Opposed? 15 (No response.) 16 CHAIR KASSEKERT: The motion carries. 17 Thank you. 18 MS. FRIGEN: Thank you. 19 MR. NANCE: Item No. 6, applications for 20 suspension: Wayne Games, Benedykt Nitka, 21 Edmond Distefano, Carrie Eckstadt, and Dorothy 22 Lum. 23 Miss DeLia? 24 MS. DeLIA: Good morning. 25 For the record I would just like to ask 25 ITME NO. 6 1 if the Respondents are present or represented? 2 (No response.) 3 MS. DeLIA: Apparently not. 4 Brian Biscieglia is here on behalf of 5 the Division. 6 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Thank you. 7 Mr. Biscieglia? 8 MR. BISCIEGLIA: Thank you. 9 In the absence of the presence of any of 10 the Respondents, the Division will rely on a 11 its pleadings. 12 However, I would like to add in regards 13 to A through D on the list, all of those 14 matters are currently pending a grand jury with 15 no date set. 16 However, with regards to E, Dorothy Lum, 17 Miss Lum has been indicted for one count of 18 computer theft, third degree, and is currently 19 scheduled for a prearraignment conference on 20 August 26, of 2010. 21 Thank you. 22 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Thank you. 23 Any questions? 24 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: Madame Chair, 25 move to suspend the credentials of the subjects 26 ITME NO. 7 1 A through E. 2 COMMISSIONER EPPS: Second. 3 CHAIR KASSEKERT: The motion has been 4 made and seconded. All in favor? 5 (Ayes.) 6 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Opposed? 7 (No response.) 8 CHAIR KASSEKERT: The motion carries. 9 Thank you. 10 MR. BISCIEGLIA: Thank you. 11 MR. NANCE: Item No. 7, consideration of 12 forfeiture orders in Trump Plaza Associates, et 13 al., and Trump Taj Mahal Associates, et al. 14 Ms. DeLia? 15 MS. DeLIA: First I'd like to ask if any 16 of the individuals are present or represented? 17 (No response.) 18 MS. DeLIA: For the Commission's 19 consideration are two forfeiture orders seeking 20 money or things of value confiscated by Trump 21 Taj Mahal and Trump Plaza pursuant to Section 22 71.3A of the Act and Commission regulation NJAC 23 19:42-2.8(f) due to these patrons being either 24 a prohibited person or underaged gambler. 25 The forfeiture action for underaged 27 ITME NO. 7 1 patron FA was adjourned from the July 14th, 2 2010, meeting due to lack of service. 3 Therefore, the Trump forfeiture amount has been 4 adjusted. 5 The matters are now being presented to 6 the Commission for final action. 7 I have received letters from counsel. 8 They are not objecting to the forfeiture 9 orders. 10 Mr. Stebbins is here on behalf of the 11 Division. 12 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Thank you. 13 Good morning, Mr. Stebbins. 14 MR. STEBBINS: Good morning, Madame 15 Chair, members of the Commission. 16 I would ask that you enter the 17 appropriate orders, and we move forward. 18 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Thank you. 19 Any questions? 20 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: No questions, 21 Madame Chair. 22 COMMISSIONER EPPS: Madame Chair, based 23 upon the patrons having gambled while either 24 underaged or prohibited person, I move that we 25 find these individuals have forfeited the money 28 ITME NO. 8 1 and/or things of value seized pursuant to NJSA 2 5:12-71.3, and the respective casinos are 3 directed to remit the forfeited funds to the 4 Commission for appropriate disposition in 5 accordance with NJSA 5:12-71.3(c) and NJAC 6 19:42-2.8(f). 7 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: Second. 8 VICE CHAIR HARRINGTON: Second. 9 CHAIR KASSEKERT: The motion has been 10 made and seconded. All in favor? 11 (Ayes.) 12 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Opposed? 13 (No response.) 14 CHAIR KASSEKERT: The motion carries. 15 Thank you. 16 MR. STEBBINS: Thank you. 17 MS. DeLIA: Thank you. 18 MR. NANCE: Item No. 8, petition of 19 Jefferson Wells International for an exemption 20 from non-gaming casino service industry 21 licenses. 22 Miss Nagengast? 23 MS. NAGENGAST: Chair, Commissioners, 24 for your consideration is the petition of 25 Jefferson Wells seeking an exemption from 29 ITME NO. 8 1 non-gaming casino service industry licensure 2 based on the total volume of business it 3 conducts with the Atlantic City casino 4 industry. 5 Miss Lynne Kaufman is here on behalf of 6 the Petitioner and Lou Rogacki on behalf of the 7 Division. 8 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Thank you. 9 Good morning, Miss Kaufman. 10 MS. KAUFMAN: Good morning Chair, 11 Commission. 12 As Miss Nagengast stated, Jefferson 13 Wells is here today seeking non-gaming and 14 exemption from non-gaming casino industry 15 service licensure. Jefferson Wells a 16 subsidiary of a public company. It does less 17 than one-tenth of one percent of its business 18 with casino licensees or applicants. And 19 licensing of Jefferson Wells is not necessary 20 to protect the public interest or the purposes 21 of the Act. 22 And we ask for relief in this matter. 23 Thank you. 24 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Thank you. 25 Mr. Rogacki? 30 ITME NO. 8 1 MR. ROGACKI: Madame Chair, 2 Commissioners, DAG Way filed a letter on May 3 24th recommending that this petition be 4 granted. 5 I'll be happy to answer any questions 6 you might have. 7 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Thank you. 8 Any questions? 9 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: No questions, 10 Madame Chair. 11 Move to grant the petition of Jefferson 12 Wells International for exemption from 13 non-gaming casino service industry licensure 14 pursuant to NJSA 5:12-92(c)(e)(ii) and NJAC 15 19:51-1.13(a)(2) subject to the conditions -- 16 to the conditions in the resolution. 17 VICE CHAIR HARRINGTON: Second. 18 CHAIR KASSEKERT: The motion has been 19 made and seconded. All in favor? 20 (Ayes.) 21 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Opposed? 22 (No response.) 23 CHAIR KASSEKERT: The motion carries. 24 Thank you. 25 MS. KAUFMAN: Thank you. 31 ITME NO. 9 1 MR. NANCE: Item No. 9, petition of P. 2 F. Chang's China Bistro, Inc., for waiver of 3 qualification requirements for Kornitzer 4 Capital Management, Inc. 5 Miss Nagengast? 6 MS. NAGENGAST: Chair and Commissioners, 7 P. F. Chang's is seeking a waiver of 8 qualification for one of its investors. 9 Mariel Giletto is here on behalf of 10 Petitioners and Lou Rogacki on behalf of the 11 Division. 12 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Good morning. 13 MS. GILETTO: Good morning, Chair and 14 Commissioners. As Teresa said, Mariel Giletto 15 from Fox Rothschild on behalf of P. F. Chang's 16 China Bistro, Inc. 17 You have before you the petition for 18 waiver of the qualification requirements of 19 Kornitzer Capital Management as an 20 institutional investor. Kornitzer fits within 21 the definition of "institutional investor" as 22 it is an institutional advisory registered 23 under the Institutional Advisory Act. 24 You also have the certification of 25 Kornitzer Capital Management stating that it 32 ITME NO. 9 1 holds the stock of P. F. Chang's for investment 2 purposes only, and that it does not having any 3 intention of influencing or affecting the 4 business affairs of P. F. Chang's. 5 If you have any questions, I'll be happy 6 to answer. 7 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Thank you. 8 Any questions before we hear from Mr. 9 Rogacki? 10 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: No questions, 11 Madame Chair. 12 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Okay. Mr. Rogacki? 13 MR. ROGACKI: Madame Chair, 14 Commissioners, on June 30th I filed a letter 15 recommending this petition also be granted. 16 Once again, I'll be happy to answer any 17 questions you might have. 18 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Thank you. 19 Any questions for the Division? 20 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: No questions, 21 Madame Chair. 22 COMMISSIONER FANELLE: Madame Chair, I 23 move that we grant the petition of P. F. 24 Chang's China Bistro, Incorporated, requesting 25 a waiver of qualification for Kornitzer Capital 33 ITME NO. 10 1 Management, Incorp., in connection with P. F. 2 Chang's China Bistro, Inc., pending application 3 from a non-gaming casino service industry 4 license by finding that Kornitzer Capital 5 Management, Inc., satisfies the standards for 6 waiver as an institutional investor as 7 permitted by NJSA 5:12-27.1 and NJAC 8 19:51-1.14(b)(3) subject to the condition that 9 Kornitzer Capital Management, Inc., comply with 10 the Commission's notice and filing requirement 11 should they subsequently determine to influence 12 or affect the affairs of P. F. Chang's China 13 Bistro, Inc. 14 VICE CHAIR HARRINGTON: Second. 15 CHAIR KASSEKERT: The motion has been 16 made and seconded. All in favor? 17 (Ayes.) 18 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Opposed? 19 (No response.) 20 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Motion carries. 21 MS. GILETTO: Thank you. 22 MR. ROGACKI: Thank you. 23 MR. NANCE: Item No. 10, petition of 24 Tropicana Entertainment, Inc., and Tropicana 25 Atlantic City Corp. for permission for C. 34 ITME NO. 10 1 Phillip Fortino to assume the duties and 2 exercise the powers of Vice President Human 3 Resources for Tropicana Entertainment, Inc., 4 pursuant to NJAC 19:43-2.7(c). 5 Miss Frank? 6 MS. FRANK: Good morning, Chair and 7 Commissioners. 8 A draft resolution of Mr. Fortino's 9 temporary qualification has been circulated to 10 the parties. 11 We have Miss Hughes here for Tropicana 12 and Ms. Flaherty for the Division. 13 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Thank you. 14 Good mornings, Miss Hughes. 15 MS. HUGHES: Good morning. 16 I have had the opportunity -- I am here, 17 by the way, on behalf of Dennis Daly, who did 18 file the petition but, obviously, for Tropicana 19 Entertainment as well as Tropicana Atlantic 20 City. 21 I did take a look at the proposed 22 resolution, and I would just ask that you grant 23 the same. 24 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Thank you. 25 Miss Flaherty? 35 ITME NO. 10 1 MS. FLAHERTY: Good morning, Chair, 2 Commissioners. 3 The Division conducted the initial 4 investigation and reviewed with regard to Mr. 5 Fortino's qualification. And as a result, we 6 filed a letter report with you dated August the 7 2nd in which we've interposed no objection with 8 regard to that qualification. 9 We've also looked at the draft 10 resolution and have no issue with it. 11 Thank you. 12 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Thank you. 13 Any questions? 14 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: No questions, 15 Madame Chair. 16 VICE CHAIR HARRINGTON: I move that we 17 adopt the draft resolution and authorize C. 18 Phillip Fortino on a temporary base and prior 19 to his plenary qualification to assume the 20 duties and exercise the powers of Vice 21 President Human Resources for Tropicana 22 Entertainment Inc., which, among other things, 23 require that he file a personal history 24 disclosure form-MJ and NJ supplement by 25 September 2nd, 2010. 36 ITME NO. 11 1 COMMISSIONER EPPS: Second. 2 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Motion is made and 3 seconded. This is a roll call vote. 4 MR. NANCE: Commissioner Sommeling? 5 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: Yes. 6 MR. NANCE: Commissioner Epps? 7 COMMISSIONER EPPS: Yes. 8 MR. NANCE: Commissioner Fanelle? 9 COMMISSIONER FANELLE: Yes. 10 MR. NANCE: Vice Chair Harrington? 11 VICE CHAIR HARRINGTON: Yes. 12 MR. NANCE: Chair Kassekert? 13 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Yes. 14 MR. NANCE: The record will reflect that 15 the record is unanimous. 16 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Thank you. 17 MS. HUGHES: Thank you. 18 MR. NANCE: Item No. 11, proposed 19 readoption of NJAC 19:41. 20 Miss Frank? 21 MS. FRANK: The proposed readoption of 22 applications was published in the June 7th, 23 2010, New Jersey "Register." No comments from 24 the public were received. 25 If approved by you today, the final 37 ITME NO. 12 1 notice of readoption will become effective with 2 its electronic filing later on today, August 3 18th. It will be filed with the Office of 4 Administrative Law. 5 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Thank you. 6 Any questions? 7 COMMISSIONER EPPS: I move that we 8 approve the proposed readoption as published. 9 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: Second. 10 CHAIR KASSEKERT: The motion has been 11 made and seconded. All in favor? 12 (Ayes.) 13 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Opposed? 14 (No response.) 15 CHAIR KASSEKERT: The motion carries. 16 MS. FRANK: Thank you. 17 MR. NANCE: Item No. 12, petition of IGT 18 and Marina District Development Company, LLC, 19 for permission to transfer progressive 20 instant-pay slot jackpots pursuant to NJAC 21 19:45-1.39(n). 22 Mr. Briliant? 23 MR. BRILIANT: Good morning, Madame 24 Chair and Commissioners. 25 Mr. Previti is here on behalf of the 38 ITME NO. 12 1 Petitioners. Mr. Kimmel is here on behalf of 2 the Division. 3 I have circulated a draft resolution 4 which has been reviewed by the parties. And 5 I'd simply note that this matter and the 6 following two matters on the agenda all 7 resulted from the same event, that it is really 8 an involuntary transfer of a jackpot due to 9 certain issues regarding a slot machine game. 10 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Thank you. 11 Good morning, Mr. Previti. 12 MR. PREVITI: Good morning. 13 We've reviewed the draft resolution and 14 ask that you adopt it. 15 And I'm here to answer any questions you 16 might have. 17 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Thank you. 18 Mr. Kimmel? 19 MR. KIMMEL: The Division has also 20 reviewed the draft resolution, has no objection 21 to your adopting it. 22 Thank you. 23 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Thank you. 24 Any questions? 25 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: No questions, 39 ITME NO. 12 1 Madame Chair. 2 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Commissioner 3 Harrington? 4 VICE CHAIR HARRINGTON: Yeah. I just -- 5 what denomination is this? I know there are 6 40- and 20-cent wagers but, like, are they, 7 like, pennies or nickels? 8 MR. PREVITI: I'm sorry. I don't know 9 off the top of -- 10 MR. KIMMEL: I thought -- 11 MR. PREVITI: Oh. 12 MR. KIMMEL: They were pennies. 13 MR. PREVITI: Mostly pennies at this 14 point. 15 VICE CHAIR HARRINGTON: Thank you. 16 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Any other questions? 17 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: No questions, 18 Madame Chair. 19 COMMISSIONER EPPS: I move we adopt the 20 draft resolution and: A, approve the 21 progressive instant-pay slot jackpot transfer; 22 and, B, waive the 30-day notice requirement 23 pursuant to NJAC 19:40-1.3(d) subject to the 24 modified posting conditions in the resolution. 25 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: Second. 40 ITME NO. 13 1 CHAIR KASSEKERT: The motion has been 2 made and seconded. All in favor? 3 (Ayes.) 4 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Opposed? 5 (No response.) 6 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Motion carries. 7 MR. NANCE: Item No. 13, petition of IGT 8 and Tropicana Atlantic City Corp. for 9 permission to transfer progressive instant-pay 10 slot jackpots pursuant to NJAC 19:45-1.39(n). 11 Mr. Briliant? 12 MR. BRILIANT: Same situation, Chair and 13 Commissioners. 14 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Same situation. 15 Different casino. 16 Mr. Previti? 17 MR. PREVITI: Again, we ask that you 18 adopt the draft resolution. 19 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Thank you. 20 Mr. Kimmel? 21 MR. KIMMEL: Again, we have no objection 22 to it. 23 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Did all right. 24 Any questions? 25 COMMISSIONER EPPS: Again I move that we 41 ITME NO. 14 1 adopt the draft resolution -- 2 (Laughter.) 3 COMMISSIONER EPPS: -- and A, approve 4 the progressive transfer; and, B, waive the 5 30-day notice requirement pursuant to NJAC 6 19:40-1.3(d) subject to the modified posting 7 conditions in the resolution. 8 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: Second. 9 CHAIR KASSEKERT: The motion has been 10 made and seconded. All in favor? 11 (Ayes.) 12 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Opposed? 13 (No response.) 14 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Motion carries. 15 MR. NANCE: Item No. 14, petition of IGT 16 and Trump Marina Associates, LLC, for 17 permission to transfer progressive instant-pay 18 slot jackpots pursuant to NJAC 19:45-1.39(n). 19 Mr. Briliant? 20 MR. BRILIANT: Third time pays for all. 21 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Mr. Previti? 22 MR. PREVITI: Again, if you have any 23 questions, we'll be happy to answer them. 24 MR. KIMMEL: No objection. 25 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Don't bother. 42 ITME NO. 14 1 Any questions? 2 (Laughter.) 3 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: No questions, 4 Madame Chair. 5 COMMISSIONER EPPS: I'm not moving this 6 one. 7 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Okay. Commissioner 8 Fanelle? 9 COMMISSIONER EPPS: I move that we 10 approve the draft resolution and: A, approve 11 the progressive instant-pay slot jackpot 12 transfer; and; B, waive the 30-day notice 13 requirement pursuant to NJAC 19:40-1.3(d) 14 subject to the modified posting conditions in 15 the resolution. 16 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: Second. 17 CHAIR KASSEKERT: The motion has been 18 made and seconded. All in favor? 19 (Ayes.) 20 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Opposed? 21 (No response.) 22 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Motion carries. 23 MR. PREVITI: Thank you, Chair, 24 Commissioners. 25 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Yup. 43 ITME NO. 15-16 1 MR. NANCE: Item No. 15, Petition of IGT 2 and Resorts International Hotel, Inc., for 3 permission to transfer progressive multi-level 4 instant-pay slot jackpots pursuant to NJAC 5 19:45-1.13(n). 6 Mr. Briliant? 7 MR. BRILIANT: As I had previously 8 noted, Chair and Commissioners, this matter is 9 moot. The jackpots have been won. So the 10 petition is being withdrawn by the Petitioner. 11 No action is required by the Commission. 12 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Thank you. 13 MR. NANCE: Item No. 16, petition of 14 Harrah's Atlantic City Operating Company, LLC, 15 Showboat, Atlantic City Operating Company, LLC, 16 Bally's Park Place, Inc., and Boardwalk Regency 17 Corp. for approval of a multi-casino bad-beat 18 payout system agreement pursuant to NJAC 19 19:45-1.39D and a test of the system pursuant 20 to NJSA 5:12-69(e). 21 Mr. Briliant? 22 MR. BRILIANT: Mr. Magazzu is here on 23 behalf of Harrah's and the Petitioners. Mr. 24 Kimmel is here on behalf of the Division. 25 And, again, I had circulated a proposed 44 ITME NO. 16 1 draft resolution among the parties. 2 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Thank you. 3 Mr. Magazzu? 4 MR. MAGAZZU: Good morning, Madame Chair 5 and Commissioners. 6 I have reviewed that draft resolution, 7 and we have nothing to add other than to 8 request that the Commission adopt the same and 9 grant our petition approving the multi-property 10 agreement. 11 Thank you. 12 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Thank you. 13 Do we have any questions? 14 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: No questions, 15 Madame Chair. 16 CHAIR KASSEKERT: I have a question. 17 Mr. Magazzu, you know, we have heard 18 from at least one patron on this issue with 19 respect to when -- the money would be moved off 20 of these machines prior to, I guess, when a 21 bad-beat jackpot is paid out. 22 Is that correct, Seth? 23 MR. BRILIANT: Yes. 24 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Do you have any 25 response to that issue? You know, I guess the 45 ITME NO. 16 1 patron was concerned about the fairness of 2 that, that, you know, you would take it out 3 before it hit, and then people that might have 4 been waiting for it to hit would sort of be 5 left out. Do you have any response to that at 6 all? 7 MR. MAGAZZU: I haven't heard or seen 8 that comment, so it's hard for me to respond to 9 it. 10 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Uh-hum. 11 MR. MAGAZZU: You know, each particular 12 comment that that customer or patron may have 13 made. But based on your representation of 14 that, I would just submit that this has been 15 discussed at length, I believe with the 16 Commission staff, and it has been agreed that 17 there would be a period of time where we would 18 post in a conspicuous place notice that these 19 jackpots or payouts would be combined among the 20 four properties and that they would not -- they 21 would no longer be available just for one 22 particular property, but they would be combined 23 among the four properties. 24 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Okay. Tell me -- I 25 mean, I guess the other issue might be that 46 ITME NO. 16 1 they might hit at different times, so how would 2 you, you know -- how would you know? I mean, 3 how could you -- I don't know that you could 4 coordinate something like that. If each -- you 5 know, each progressives at each casinos hit at 6 different times, wouldn't that be the case? 7 MR. MAGAZZU: Do you mean after the 8 system is in place or in this period of time -- 9 CHAIR KASSEKERT: The period of time -- 10 MR. MAGAZZU: -- between now and August 11 23rd? 12 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Right. Like, it would 13 be difficult to say you've got to wait until 14 the bad-beat jackpot pays out, because it might 15 hit -- Vicky is nodding her head -- they might 16 hit all different times, so you might not know. 17 MR. MAGAZZU: As far as that type of 18 operation vis-a-vis the Commission, I would ask 19 that Ms. Guveiyian come up and make that 20 representation, if that's okay. 21 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Sure. 22 Vicky, we'll just have to swear you in. 23 24 VICKY LYNN GUVEIYIAN, was duly sworn to 25 testify in this matter. 47 ITME NO. 16 1 2 MR. NANCE: Please state your name for 3 the record. 4 MS. GUVEIYIAN: Vicky Guveiyian, 5 MR. NANCE: Could you spell your last 6 name? 7 MS. GUVEIYIAN: G-u-v-e-i-y-i-a-n. 8 9 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Thanks, Vicky. 10 I guess the issue would be -- I mean, I 11 understand the patron's concern about the 12 fairness of that, but don't these jackpots. 13 They all kind of hit at different times; 14 correct? 15 MS. GUVEIYIAN: So we're talking about 16 the game of poker. 17 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Uh-hum. 18 MS. GUVEIYIAN: And each individual 19 Harrah's property has a bad-beat jackpot 20 posted. So as you said, Madame Chair, the 21 jackpots can hit individually at each property 22 at any point in time. We choose to combine 23 them on Tuesday, August 24th, and have 24 conspicuously placed notices in each of the 25 poker rooms at each of our properties advising 48 ITME NO. 16 1 our patrons that we will be combining the 2 primary jackpots as of that morning as well as 3 the reserve will be combined. So that 4 everybody will have an opportunity to play for 5 a larger jackpot. We are not taking any 6 amounts away from any of the poker rooms. We 7 are merely combining all four. And also giving 8 all four poker rooms the opportunity for every 9 player, if the jackpot is won, to be a winner. 10 We are paying the entire room. We're not just 11 paying the winner. We're paying the entire 12 room, as well as any people playing at that 13 time when that jackpot is won will get a 14 minimum payout of $100. 15 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Okay. Thank you. 16 Any other questions before we hear from 17 Mr. Kimmel? 18 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: I have no 19 questions, Madame Chair. 20 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Mr. Kimmel? 21 MR. KIMMEL: I have questions. 22 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Okay. 23 24 CROSS-EXAMINATION BY MR. KIMMEL: 25 Q. This is all about the game of poker; 49 ITME NO. 16 1 correct? 2 A. Yes. 3 Q. So if a patron is playing at one of your 4 properties, and then the jackpots are combined, the 5 rules are such that if you're playing for the bad 6 beat, you're trying to get four of a kind, queens or 7 better, but still lose the hand. That's how you get 8 paid out? 9 A. Uh-hum. 10 Q. So the odds of getting that are exactly 11 the same for each player before and after the 12 combination. 13 A. Absolutely. 14 Q. The only difference is that because 15 there would be more poker tables participating, 16 somebody else might win. 17 A. Exactly. 18 Q. But the odds are still the same for each 19 individual player? 20 A. Yes. And the jackpot, hopefully, would 21 be bigger. 22 Q. And that's a business decision you made 23 for trying to attract more customers by having a 24 bigger jackpot. Is that accurate? 25 A. Absolutely. 50 ITME NO. 16 1 MR. KIMMEL: Okay. I don't have 2 anything further. 3 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Okay. Thank you, Mr. 4 Kimmel. 5 Any other questions? 6 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: No questions, 7 Madame Chair. 8 VICE CHAIR HARRINGTON: I'll just -- and 9 this is -- 10 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Sure. 11 VICE CHAIR HARRINGTON: This is 12 coordinated and monitored through the Bally's 13 Park Place property; right? 14 MS. GUVEIYIAN: Right. Bally's Park 15 Place is where the central server resides. 16 VICE CHAIR HARRINGTON: So you would 17 know immediately if it hit -- 18 MS. GUVEIYIAN: Yes. 19 VICE CHAIR HARRINGTON: -- at the 20 Showboat or -- 21 MS. GUVEIYIAN: Oh, absolutely. There 22 will be displays at each property as well. So 23 each property's poker room has a video display 24 that would show what that jackpot is and when 25 its pending. Until we verify it, they'll be a 51 ITME NO. 16 1 scroll. 2 VICE CHAIR HARRINGTON: Okay. 3 MS. GUVEIYIAN: And then when it's 4 verified, they'll be a subsequent scroll. 5 VICE CHAIR HARRINGTON: Thank you. 6 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: And play ceases 7 at that moment, on all the machines. Until the 8 jackpot is verified? 9 MS. GUVEIYIAN: Until the jackpot is 10 confirmed. 11 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: Right. 12 MS. GUVEIYIAN: And then once it's 13 confirmed, play will begin again. Since we're 14 paying the whole room, it takes a while to pay 15 out everybody, but we have a system in place 16 that we can restart play again. 17 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: Thank you. 18 VICE CHAIR HARRINGTON: Thank you. 19 Then I will move that we adopt the draft 20 resolution and grant the petition of Harrah's 21 Atlantic City Operating Company, LLC, Showboat 22 Atlantic City Operating Company, LLC, Bally's 23 Park Place, Inc., and Boardwalk Regency Corp. 24 and approve the multi-casino bad-beat payout 25 system agreement pursuant to NJAC 19:45-1.39D 52 ITME NO. 17 1 and to the proposed test of the system pursuant 2 to NJSA 5:12-69(e) subject to the conditions in 3 the resolution. 4 COMMISSIONER EPPS: Second. 5 CHAIR KASSEKERT: The motion has been 6 made and seconded. All in favor? 7 (Ayes.) 8 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Opposed? 9 (No response.) 10 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Motion carries. 11 Thank you. 12 MR. MAGAZZU: Thank you. 13 MR. BRILIANT: Thank you. 14 MR. NANCE: Item No. 17, proposed 15 publication and temporary adoption of 16 amendments concerning seven-card stud low. 17 Mr. Mamolen? 18 MR. MAMOLEN: Good morning, Madame 19 Chair, Commissioners. 20 This matter is before you for both 21 publication and temporary adoption. 22 As you know, there are three existing 23 and authorized variations of seven-card stud 24 out there, seven-card stud high, seven-card 25 stud high-low, and seven-card stud high-low 53 ITME NO. 18 1 eight or better under the qualifier. Why there 2 was never a seven-card stud low variation 3 authorized when the regs were first adopted, I 4 cannot answer. 5 But it's been before you now for 6 publication and temp adoption. 7 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Thank you. 8 Any questions? 9 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: No questions, 10 Madame Chair. 11 Move to approve for publication and 12 temporary adoption. 13 COMMISSIONER EPPS: Second. 14 CHAIR KASSEKERT: The motion has been 15 made and seconded. All in favor? 16 (Ayes.) 17 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Opposed? 18 (No response.) 19 CHAIR KASSEKERT: The motion carries. 20 MR. NANCE: Item No. 18, proposed 21 publication of amendments and new rules for 22 "Multi[sic]-Tex 3 Card Hold 'Em." 23 Mr. Mamolen? 24 MR. MAMOLEN: This is just before you 25 for publication at this point. There's just 54 ITME NO. 18 1 one table out there in the whole city. It's a 2 mini-hold 'em. As you know, hold 'em is a game 3 with two individuals player cards, and 4 typically a five card -- community card 5 display. This has only three community cards. 6 It's before you for just publication and 7 just one table. 8 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Thank you. 9 Mr. Ficchi? 10 MR. FICCHI: Thank you. Good morning, 11 Madame Chair, Commissioners. 12 The Division has the petition. It's 13 reviewing the mathematics to establish the -- 14 to confirm the house advantages represented by 15 the Petitioner. So as soon as that report is 16 ready, we'll send it to the Commission 17 immediately. 18 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Thank you. 19 MR. FICCHI: Thank you. 20 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Any questions? 21 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: No questions, 22 Madame Chair. 23 COMMISSIONER EPPS: Move to approve for 24 publication. 25 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: Second. 55 ITME NO. 18 1 CHAIR KASSEKERT: The motion has been 2 made and seconded. All in favor? 3 (Ayes.) 4 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Opposed? 5 (No response.) 6 CHAIR KASSEKERT: The motion carries. 7 MR. NANCE: In accordance with 8 Resolution No. 09-12-16-20, the next closed 9 session of the Commission shall be held on 10 Wednesday, September 8th, 2010, at 9:15 a.m. in 11 the Commission offices. 12 It is now time for the public 13 participation portion of the meeting. 14 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Is there anyone from 15 the public that wishes to be heard? 16 Yes, sir? You can come forward and take 17 a seat here. And would you please state your 18 name and town for the record. 19 MR. GLADSTONE: May I sit? Or do I have 20 to stand? 21 CHAIR KASSEKERT: You can sit. Whatever 22 you feel comfortable doing. 23 MR. GLADSTONE: Thank you. 24 My name is Harold Gladstone, 25 G-l-a-d-s-t-o-n-e. I'm a retired college 56 PUBLIC PARTICIPATION 1 professor. When I taught, I taught 2 mathematics. 3 I'm also a Seven Star player at 4 Harrah's, and I play poker almost every day at 5 Bally's. Last month I logged 130 hours of 6 poker, and that can be verified from the poker 7 room in Bally's. 8 I'm very concerned about the fairness of 9 putting together that big bad-beat jackpot. I 10 call that a global bad-beat jackpot because it 11 covers the four casinos as opposed to a local 12 bad-beat jackpot. Bally's is the smallest of 13 the four poker rooms, and the most of the money 14 will be coming from there. Their bad beat 15 currently is over $400,000 and their reserve is 16 well over 200,000. So that's $600,000. And 17 it's way more than the other three casinos put 18 together. As a player who plays there 19 regularly, I can tell you that most of the 20 players in that casino, in Bally's, are 21 regulars. I know most of them by their names. 22 The floor person and the people that run the 23 poker room know pretty much all of us by our 24 names. The money in that bad-beat jackpot came 25 from our play, and I really object -- very 57 PUBLIC PARTICIPATION 1 strongly object to an inequitable method of 2 setting up a global bad beat. I understand now 3 it's a fait accompli because you all approved 4 it, and I wish I had standing in the court, so 5 I could have made my statements before, because 6 maybe after I make all my statements, you may 7 not really want to have approved what you did. 8 The initial size of that bad-beat 9 jackpot may not be anywhere near the size they 10 would like it or has been proposed. Probably 11 something more in the order of $100,000 would 12 be more than equitable with an equal amount 13 coming from each of the four casinos. That 14 would be my proposal. And I would leave the 15 current bad-beat jackpots that are in the four 16 casinos as is, which means that the bad-beat 17 jackpot in Bally's would have to hit and the 18 reserve would then go into a new bad-beat 19 jackpot and that would have to hit. They 20 could simultaneously run a global bad-beat 21 jackpot and local bad-beat jackpots. The local 22 ones would disappear after they were hit. 23 One of my other concerns is I play 24 two/four hold 'em, which is a limited game. 25 Within the last year, Caesars had a $500,000 58 PUBLIC PARTICIPATION 1 bad-beat jackpot. The management of Caesars 2 poker room took it upon themselves to close all 3 two/four limit hold 'em games. Now, that's the 4 only game I play. And even though I 5 contributed a substantial amount to bad-beat 6 jackpot, I was not allowed to play in there. I 7 went to the Casino Control Commission and 8 stated my case. And the person -- and the 9 Casino Control Commission booth called over the 10 head of the poker room. The head of the poker 11 room came over, and he told him what I had 12 said. The head of the poker room said, oh, 13 it's just like playing craps on New Year's Eve. 14 You'll only find a 50 and $100 crap table. And 15 if you are a $10 crap table player, you're just 16 out of luck. And I said, no. Now, wait a 17 minute. There's no jackpot that's going to be 18 hit by these 50 and $100 players. I said, I 19 couldn't care less what the tables are on New 20 Year's Eve. If I'm not willing to play at a 21 hundred or $50 table, I won't play. 22 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Uh-hum. 23 MR. GLADSTONE: But that's my money in 24 that jackpot. 25 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Uh-hum. 59 PUBLIC PARTICIPATION 1 MR. GLADSTONE: So you know what Caesars 2 did? They opened up one two/four hold 'em 3 table -- limit table. And they had a limit of 4 over 200 names every day to try to get on that 5 table. 6 Now, by the way, I'm a Seven Star 7 player, and up until that time, Seven Star 8 players were allowed to go to the top of the 9 list but because they know me, and they knew I 10 was Seven Star, they would no longer allow a 11 Seven Star player to go to the top of the list 12 and play at the two/four hold 'em table. So 13 I'm very much concerned as to what's going to 14 happen there. 15 Another concern I have is that the 16 rules -- the poker parlors are all basically 17 autonomous. The rules are very different in 18 each one, and I'm not sure how they're going to 19 do that. For example, in Bally's and Harrah's, 20 if you're playing poker and you get up to go to 21 the bathroom or go take a smoke or whatever, 22 and you do not have what's called a miscline 23 (phonetic) button you are still eligible to 24 collect on the bad-beat, for whatever 25 distributions are on the at the table in the 60 PUBLIC PARTICIPATION 1 room. In Showboat and Caesars, that's not the 2 case. If you're not in the hand, you don't -- 3 you have nothing to do with miscline button. 4 You're not allowed to collect the bad beat. 5 There are many other rules that are totally 6 different in the four poker rooms. I'd like to 7 know how Harrah's is going to equalize how the 8 room is. 9 I'd like to just make a couple comments 10 about the bad-beat jackpot in itself. The 11 probability of hitting a bad-beat jackpot is 12 something that could be determined 13 mathematically by doing a Monte Carlo 14 stimulation on a computer. Unfortunately, 15 that's only the probability of the bad beat 16 being hit. That Caesars bad beat that I 17 mentioned that was $500,000, that thing took 18 many, many months before that thing hit. On 19 the other hand, within the last couple of 20 weeks, the bad-beat jackpot was hit twice in 21 the same day at Harrah's Casino. So I have 22 some concerns about how they're going to have a 23 reserve for that global bad beat. 24 My other concern is that it's starting 25 at so large. I think that's a big mistake. I 61 PUBLIC PARTICIPATION 1 think they should start again around $100,000, 2 nowhere near the amount that they want. That 3 thing is going to build up rather quickly if 4 they take all the bad-beat money that goes into 5 the bad beat. 6 If you're not familiar with poker, maybe 7 I better explain to you how this works. Okay. 8 CHAIR KASSEKERT: I just know the 9 fundamentals. 10 MR. GLADSTONE: Yeah. The fundamentals. 11 Okay. 12 When you play poker, out of the money 13 that goes into the pot, a certain amount of 14 money is taken out called the "rake" which goes 15 to the casino. 16 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Right. 17 MR. GLADSTONE: Okay. A dollar is put 18 into this pot, which is called the bad-beat 19 jackpot, which is why I say that that's our 20 money in Bally's. 21 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Uh-hum. 22 MR. GLADSTONE: Because every hand that 23 buck has gone into that pot. And we also tip 24 the dealers. Now, most of the time, you're 25 going to end up losing money because between 62 PUBLIC PARTICIPATION 1 the bad beat and the rake and the dealer tip, 2 most of us lose. But that's okay. We have a 3 pretty good time playing poker, and we got a 4 real shot at that bad beat. 5 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Uh-hum. 6 MR. GLADSTONE: I would like to continue 7 to have that real good shot at the bad beat. 8 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Well, thank you. You 9 know, we appreciate your concerns. 10 I don't know, Vicky, if you have -- 11 MR. GLADSTONE: I don't think when -- 12 the person over here was asked what the concern 13 was, I don't feel he gave a fair -- 14 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Uh-hum. 15 MR. GLADSTONE: -- you know, statement 16 of what my concern was. 17 And, let's see. I just have some other 18 things here. 19 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Okay. 20 MR. GLADSTONE: But I'm not going to 21 take up your time. 22 CHAIR KASSEKERT: No. That's all right. 23 Please. 24 MR. GLADSTONE: No. That's fine. I -- 25 again, I just feel it's totally inequitable to 63 PUBLIC PARTICIPATION 1 take the lion's share of the bad-beat money 2 from Bally's, which is the smallest of the four 3 poker rooms. 4 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Uh-hum. Rooms. Yeah. 5 Yeah. 6 MR. GLADSTONE: By the way, I'm really 7 impressed with the Casino Control Commission. 8 Up until now I also thought all they did was 9 follow the money trains around and empty out 10 the slots. 11 (Laughter.) 12 MR. GLADSTONE: But now I've discovered 13 there's a lot more to it than what I have seen 14 before. 15 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Well, thank you. We 16 really appreciate you coming in and making your 17 comments. I know a lot of times it gets a 18 little frustrating because, you know, casinos 19 also have the opportunity to make business 20 decisions. But we really appreciate you 21 bringing those concerns to us. 22 MR. GLADSTONE: By the way -- 23 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Uh-hum. 24 MR. GLADSTONE: I've talked to the head 25 of the poker room at Bally's, Rick. And he -- 64 PUBLIC PARTICIPATION 1 and I spoke with him, and he agrees with me one 2 hundred percent on the comments that I made. 3 How much input the individual poker room 4 managers had into this, I have no idea. 5 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Uh-hum. 6 MR. GLADSTONE: By the way, my own 7 personal opinion, anything that can be done to 8 improve the economic life of the casinos here 9 in Atlantic City, I'm all for. 10 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Yeah. 11 MR. GLADSTONE: And the basic concept, I 12 agree. I think it's really great. I want to 13 see more innovative concepts come into Atlantic 14 City to improve the economic health of the 15 casinos and of Atlantic City. 16 CHAIR KASSEKERT: City. Right. 17 MR. GLADSTONE: But I'd like to see it 18 done right. 19 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Uh-hum. 20 MR. GLADSTONE: And thank you very much. 21 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Thank you. 22 COMMISSIONER FANELLE: Thank you. 23 MS. FAUNTLEROY: If I can just indicate 24 that you -- you were able to retain two 25 Harrah's representatives here. Certainly 65 PUBLIC PARTICIPATION 1 questions that you have regarding their intent, 2 I'm sure they'll be happy to answer for you. 3 Part of the Commission's approval 4 included requiring that the rules at each house 5 be the same. 6 MR. GLADSTONE: Okay. 7 MS. FAUNTLEROY: So we are aware of the 8 differences in the procedures at each of the 9 houses. 10 MR. GLADSTONE: Okay. 11 MS. FAUNTLEROY: That will be modified. 12 And, lastly, this is a test. So to the 13 extent that there are any additional problems 14 or concerns that arise during this test -- 15 MR. GLADSTONE: A test could be run. 16 MS. FAUNTLEROY: We'll be in a position 17 to address those. 18 MR. GLADSTONE: A test could be run at a 19 much lower level. It doesn't require a 20 million-dollar jackpot. 21 MS. FAUNTLEROY: I understand. 22 MR. GLADSTONE: It could be run at 23 $100,000, even $50,000 jackpot. And that 24 bad-beat thing will build every quickly. The 25 bad-beat boxes from four parlors contributing 66 PUBLIC PARTICIPATION 1 to it, it's going to go up very, very fast. 2 The bad-beat at Bally's, it's a very small 3 poker room. That thing goes up two, three, 4 $4,000 a day. 5 MS. FAUNTLEROY: We hear you. The 6 Commission understands. And our issues are the 7 technical issues and -- 8 MR. GLADSTONE: Right. 9 MS. FAUNTLEROY: And making sure the 10 odds are. It was the proposal that was put 11 forth by Harrah's. 12 MR. GLADSTONE: Right. But my main 13 issue is the fairness issue. 14 MS. FAUNTLEROY: Thank you. 15 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Yup. We hear that. 16 MR. GLADSTONE: Thank you very much. 17 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Anyone else from the 18 public that wishes to be heard? 19 (No response.) 20 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Seeing no one, I'll 21 declare this portion of the meeting closed and 22 entertain a motion to adjourn. 23 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: Motion to 24 adjourn. 25 COMMISSIONER FANELLE: Second. 67 1 CHAIR KASSEKERT: The motion has been 2 made and seconded. All in favor? 3 (Ayes.) 4 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Opposed? 5 (No response.) 6 CHAIR KASSEKERT: The motion carries. 7 Thank you. 8 (Public Meeting 10-08-18 was adjourned 9 at 11:25 a.m.) 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 68 1 2 C E R T I F I C A T E 3 4 5 I, DARLENE SILLITOE, a Certified Court 6 Reporter and Notary Public of the State of New 7 Jersey, certify that the foregoing is a true 8 and accurate transcript of the proceedings. 9 10 11 I further certify that I am neither 12 attorney, of counsel for, nor related to or 13 employed by any of the parties to the action; 14 further that I am not a relative or employee of 15 any attorney or counsel employed in this case; 16 nor am I financially interested in the action. 17 18 19 DARLENE SILLITOE CCR 20 License No XI01023 21 22 Dated: August 20, 2010 23 My Notary Commission Expires July 22, 2014 24 ID No 2062871 25