The Nevada Gaming Commission has an important role in adopting regulations to implement and enforce state laws governing gambling in the Silver State.
Created in 1959 with the adoption of the Gaming Control Act in Nevada, the commission also has the powerful authority for licensing of gaming, with the ability to approve, restrict, limit, condition, deny, revoke, or suspend any gaming license in the state.
💵💰Don’t miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet’s free daily newsletter💰💵
The commission has taken significant action against casinos and their executives over the years. In 2019, the commission fined Wynn Resorts $20 million, the largest commission fine ever, for ignoring employees’ complaints of misconduct.
Related: Las Vegas Strip casino closes classic rock band residency
In July 2023, Wynn Resorts founder Steve Wynn agreed to a $10 million fine and a ban from any future involvement in Nevada gambling after the Nevada Gaming Control Board filed a complaint in 2019 over sexual abuse and misconduct allegations.
More recently, Resorts World on March 27, 2025, agreed to a $10.5 million fine after the Nevada Gaming Commission filed an amended complaint on March 20, alleging the casino and its then-President Scott Sibella allowed illegal bookmaker Mathew Bowyer to do business and gamble at the casino from December 2021 until Oct. 6, 2023, at which time Bowyer was banned from Resorts World.
MGM Resorts International will pay an $8.5 million fine to the Nevada Gaming Control Board.
Image source: Shutterstock
MGM Resorts International agrees to fine Â
And now, another major Las Vegas Strip casino operator, MGM Resorts International (MGM) , has agreed to pay an $8.5 million fine to the State of Nevada related to a complaint for disciplinary action settlement with the Nevada Gaming Control Board.
Related: Las Vegas Strip casino signs another superstar singer residency
The complaint against MGM and its casinos MGM Grand and Cosmopolitan was filed contemporaneously with a stipulation for settlement on April 17, alleging “unsuitable methods of operation arising from the activities of illegal bookmaker, Wayne Nix, which were described in non-prosecution agreements between the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California and MGM Grand and The Cosmopolitan,” according a statement by the Gaming Control Board.
More Las Vegas:
Las Vegas Strip Sphere signs another superstar band residencyLas Vegas Strip casino closes country superstar’s residencyLas Vegas Strip casino signs global superstar singer to residency
The complaint for disciplinary action also detailed the activities of illegal bookmaker Bowyer at MGM properties, which were discovered by the Nevada Gaming Control Board during the course of its investigation.
The allegations center on the actions and failures of MGM Resorts International’s employees in relation to Nix and Bowyer from 2017 to 2020, as well as deficiencies within the company’s anti-money laundering program. MGM executives and employees cooperated with the Nevada Gaming Control Board’s extensive and lengthy investigation, the board’s statement said.
The complaint alleged that the then-MGM Grand president Sibella and two casino hosts were aware of Nix’s illegal sports betting operation based in California and allowed him to present illicit cash proceeds to casinos and place personal bets at MGM casinos.
Nix allegedly solicited new customers for his illegal gambling business from marketing hosts at casinos he played in and would offer casino hosts a commission or gratuity in exchange for referring casino customers.
Sibella and the casino hosts would also provide Nix with complimentary benefits of the MGM Grand, including meals, rooms, board, and golf trips with senior executives and other high net-worth customers of the casino to encourage Nix to patronize the casino and spend his illicit proceeds there.
From 2017 to 2020, MGM Grand accepted over $4 million in illicit cash proceeds from Nix’s gambling business, according to the complaint. Nix also gambled at the Cosmopolitan before MGM purchased the casino in 2021.
In March 2022, Nix entered a plea agreement with the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to operate an illegal gambling business and one count of subscribing to a false tax return.
Sibella in December 2023 also entered a plea agreement with the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, pleading guilty to a single count of failing to a report a suspicious transaction on July 27, 2018, as required regarding a presentation of $120,000 in cash by Nix at the MGM Grand.
Former MGM president’s gaming license revoked
The Nevada Gaming Commission revoked Sibella’s gaming license in December 2023 and fined him $10,000.
Bowyer, who pleaded guilty in August 2024 in federal court to operating an illegal gambling business, had also been a patron at MGM casino properties.
Nevada Gaming Commission regulations considered certain acts by Sibella and other MGM employees as unsuitable methods of operation, which included “Catering to, assisting, employing, or associating with, either socially or in business affairs, persons of notorious or unsavory reputation or who have extensive police records…”
In addition to the fine, the stipulation dictates specific conditions be placed on MGM and on the properties’ gaming licenses. The proposed settlement also detailed several remedial measures implemented at MGM and its subsidiary gaming properties.
The majority of the conditions and remediations focus on enhancements to MGM’s anti-money laundering program, as well as additional training and employee awareness of its requirements.
The Nevada Gaming Commission will consider approval of the stipulation when its meets on April 24 for its monthly meeting. The Nevada Attorney General’s Office and counsel for MGM will explain the terms for the stipulation and request the commission’s approval of the settlement.
Related: Las Vegas Strip casino closes country star’s residency
