CG Technology Fined $250,000 By Nevada Regulators, Ordered to Dump Proprietary Sports Betting Technology for Infractions

Posted on: August 13, 2018, 02:00h. 

Last updated on: August 13, 2018, 01:09h.

Philip Conneller @casinoorgphilc Read More
Expertise: Gaming Business, Regulation, Tribal Gaming.

CG Technology (CGT) has agreed to scrap all proprietary wagering technology at its Nevada sports books after state gaming authorities found it was culpable for a litany of compliance violations.

CG Technology Nevada GCB fines
The Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) has fined sportsbook CG Technologies $250K for multiple regulatory violations, but says the company now appears to be on a straighter track. (Image: CG Technologies)

The operator agreed to pay a $250,000 for taking out-of-state bets on its Nevada-only mobile offering, accepting wagers after games had finished, and underpaying and overpaying bettors.

After handing out the third fine to the operator in five years, the Nevada Gaming Control Board ordered CG to dump all its own technology and partner with an unaffiliated third-party supplier within the next six months.

CGT is still permitted to operate its Nevada sports books, but all components of the company’s wagering system were now “deemed permanently disapproved … and will not be considered for future approval,” the regulator said.

The company operates sports books at several major Las Vegas Strip casinos, including The Venetian, Cosmopolitan, Palms, Tropicana, and Hard Rock.

Racking Up Fines

In 2014, CGT was fined $5.5 million by the NGCB to settle compliance violations — the biggest penalty ever imposed by the state regulators.

CG Technology
Former CGT exec Michael Colbert was indicted by federal authorities in 2012 on charges of illegal gambling and money laundering. These charges were later dropped, but CGT was later fined $22.5 million to settle the case. (Image: Las Vegas Review-Journal)

This followed the 2012 federal indictment of the company’s VP of Risk Management Michael Colbert, who was accused of being part of an illegal sports betting ring that used CGT’s Nevada sports books to make and lay off high-roller wagers.

Later that year, federal prosecutors handed the company a $22.5 million fine to settle charges of illegal gambling and money laundering in relation to the Colbert situation.

The company changed its name from Cantor Gaming to CG Technology in a bid to distance itself from the scandal, but fresh controversy was waiting just around the corner.

In 2016, CGT was fined a further $1.5 million in Nevada for knowingly shortchanging customers at its sports books by over $700,000 on 20,000 separate occasions.

The company was apparently aware that a glitch in its software had miscalculated thousands of “round robin” parlay bets, but the company had failed to act to correct the errors. Then-CEO Lee Amaitis was forced to resign as part of the settlement.

Culture Change

In 2016, the Nevada Gaming Commission (NGC) called for a “culture change” and a “necessary reboot” within the company.

This week, the Commission acknowledged that this appears to have taken place, and it praised the company for self-reporting its latest infractions, rather than sweeping them under the carpet even though it risked losing its operating license.

“The Board perceives that changes have occurred and continue to occur at CGT related to its cooperation with the Board and there seems to be a sincere effort to comply with the Gaming Control Act,” an NGC-issued statement said.