Crown Resorts fined $2m for letting self-excluded gamblers make bets

Failures by Crown Resorts to stop more than 200 self-excluded gamblers from placing bets at the group’s flagship casino in Melbourne will cost it $2 million

The Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission dished out the fine on Tuesday after 242 people who had self-excluded from gambling made bets at the Southbank casino in the eight months to May this year.

Commission chair Fran Thorn said it was an offence under the Casino Control Act to allow an excluded person to enter, remain or gamble in a casino.

“It also contravenes Crown Melbourne’s obligation to protect people at risk of gambling harm,” Ms Thorn said.

“Those who self-exclude must be able to trust that gambling providers will take all reasonable steps to enforce their decision to avail themselves of this harm prevention initiative.

“By allowing people who have self-excluded to enter the casino and gamble, Crown has put them at risk of experiencing further gambling harm.”

However, Ms Thorn conceded some of the self-excluded patrons were “going to considerable lengths” to avoid detection and break Crown’s protocols.

The gambling watchdog detected the breaches as part of it ongoing monitoring of the casino’s operations. It laid the blame on system and control failures rather than a “deliberate disregard” for regulations.

Crown Melbourne’s gambling licence has been under intense scrutiny since the Finkelstein Royal Commission uncovered money laundering via a Crown subsidiary and organised crime-linked junkets at the casino.

The casino operator, owned by US private equity giant Blackstone, has been ordered to engage an independent expert to assess the effectiveness of its self-exclusion program and make recommendations for improvements.

“In due course, Crown will be required to implement the independent expert’s recommendations,” Ms Thorn said.

That follows another direction issued in April to implement a transformation plan to continue its reform and remediation following the findings of the royal commission.

Australian casinos have been on notice over the past 12 months, with South Australia increasing fines for bad operators 750-fold, Queensland passing new money laundering and gambling harm laws and NSW increasing taxes for casinos and poker machine venues.

The commission acknowledged Crown had taken steps to police its self-exclusion program, including improving monitoring activities, physical security, the use of technology and training of staff.

“The VGCCC is committed to ensuring Crown continues its reform efforts.”