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Casino Blacklist to Ban Felons, Cheaters, Sinners… and Whistleblowers?

A few South Dakota lawmakers tried really hard this session to dress their anti-gay bigotry in religious drag and allow pious business owners to refuse service to homosexuals. Those mean-spirited bills failed. (For the record, see HB 1251, SB 66, SB 67, and SB 128.)

But the Legislature has successfully expanded the rights of a particular class of business owners to refuse service to people they don't like. With very little uproar or opposition, the Legislature passed and the Governor signed House Bill 1084, which empowers the South Dakota Gaming Commission to ban certain individuals from licensed gaming establishments.

HB 1084 bans an interesting array of characters from casinos. Felons, violators of state or federal gaming laws, tax evaders, morally turpitudinous individuals (oops! there went some clientele)... yeah, maybe that part makes some sense. But check out these categories of behaviors and attitudes that can land you on the state casino blacklist:

  • (3) Notorious or unsavory reputation that would adversely affect public confidence and trust that the gaming industry is free from criminal or corruptive influences; or
  • (4) Conduct that would adversely affect public confidence that gaming is conducted honestly.

I think we just snuck in an anti-whistleblower statute. Suppose an individual came forward with accusations and evidence that there was organized cheating in poker tournaments. Suppose a regular patron of Deadwood's casinos noticed that a group of players was colluding to bid other players away from the tables and essentially rig the outcomes of the tournaments. Suppose that whistleblower said that such collusion was lining the colluders pockets but driving down participation in Deadwood tournaments.

Such concerns were brought to the gaming commission last November. Deadwood Gaming Commission exec Mike Rodman sounded like he wanted action:

“The industry should not have its reputation tarnished by rumor, innuendo and disgruntled patron’s blogs,” a fiery Rodman told the commission. “We stand in full support of the commission’s quest to put these rumors to rest” [Tom Griffith, "Alleged Collusion Among Card Sharks to Be Probed," Rapid City Journal, 2013.11.21].

HB 1084 gives the state gaming commission the authority to boot poker colluders out of the casinos. But it could just as easily allow them to boot the whistleblowers who dare tarnish Deadwood's reputation by pointing out that some players are gaming the games.

Let's see who makes the casino blacklist first.

10 Comments

  1. DeeJay Beejr 2014.03.06

    Hey, with this, casinos could ban Chad Haber and Annette Bosworth!

  2. larry kurtz 2014.03.06

    Dave Omdahl is already banned, right?

  3. Bill Dithmer 2014.03.06

    Let's see, here's a short list

    1. People that tell good off color jokes
    2. People standing to close to a card game
    3. People in possession any glasses that
    dont look right
    4. People in possession of any liquid or balm capable of marking cards to be read with those glasses
    5. Hearing aids
    6. Walkers
    7. Women with to much makeup
    8. Women with to reveling clothes
    9. Gloves
    10. And people that are not a "whiter shade of pale"

    If you add those not carrying bibles, those carrying the wrong kind of bibles, and those that say blasfomus things, would there be anyone left?

    The Blindman

  4. mike from iowa 2014.03.06

    I thought the obvious choice was politicians. They give every venue a bad name.

  5. caheidelberger Post author | 2014.03.06

    HB 1084 might well ban Bosworth and Haber, assuming DCI puts them on trial for breaking gaming laws and a jury convicts them.

    Bill, I suggest that we might see added to that list folks who figure out the colluders' tricks and try to beat them at their own game.

  6. Roger Cornelius 2014.03.06

    Deadwood bans?

    If you got to Deadwood on any given week day night, you'd think casino owners would want players of any type to fill their mostly vacant buildings.

  7. Bill Dithmer 2014.03.06

    I've been thinking about this ban. It would have been fun watching that crew try to keep the hard boozing, distracted driving, manslaughter litigated and convicted, ex governor ex con, Bill Junklow out of those casinos.

    Or do they get to plck and choose?

    Come to think about it don't the casinos already have the right to refuse service to anyone they dont like in their businesses that they feel jeopardizes the safty their customers?

    Looks like the law, again, would be open to broad interpretation.

    Gays and lesbians look out, that's deviant behavior your ingaged in while holding hands.

    I'm just saying

    The Blindman

  8. caheidelberger Post author | 2014.03.06

    Bill, the casinos do indeed have the same right as every other business in the state to refuse service to dangerous, disruptive customers. Maybe the point of an official state list like this is to make sure the ban is enforced everywhere... but you'd think word would get around Deadwood faster than any state list.

  9. Deb Geelsdottir 2014.03.06

    Isn't this similar to laws banning videos of farms? Perhaps less explicit.

    I have to say that overall, it looks fairly routine to me, except for the one concern.

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