Iowa regulator fines William Hill, PointsBet sportsbooks and a casino

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owa’s Racing and Gaming Commission held a meeting on Thursday where a fine was approved for one casino and two gambling companies.

The Wild Rose Casino in Jefferson and the William Hill Sports Book will have to pay $20,000 each. PointsBet was charged $7.500.

William Hill’s irregularities had to do with two betting machines that were left on, and a person who was allowed to use the mobile sports app without in-person registration. In the case of PointsBet sportsbook, the problem arised as the self-exclusion list was not properly updated. A company spokesman said they have made adjustments to meet the requirement.

In the case of the Wild Rose, the fine came after a 20-year-old woman was found on the gaming floor. General Manager Travis Dvorak spoke before the commission and took responsibility for the incident.

“Wild Rose Jefferson takes responsible gaming very seriously and we take underage gaming very seriously”, he assured, as reported by Radio Iowa. “This Tuesday we hit our six-year mark. And I did look – and in the six years we have been open, our admissions have been almost 2.7 million – during the 2.7 million this is only the second violation that I’ve had”.

In Dvorak’s words, the underaged woman’s father helped her get in, not once but twice in the same week. 

“The father would go to turnstiles and distract the security guard and block the view, so the daughter could sneak in”, he described. “This is something that we are trained for and we should have caught it, so we do take responsibility”.

Eight days later, they tried to pass the woman as a 22-year-old, but the casino had a copy of her driver’s license and recognized the pair.