Peppermill faces $1M fine for slot machine spying By Cy Ryan, Las Vegas Sun Published Friday, Feb.

14, 2014 | 8:59 a.m. Updated Friday, Feb. 14, 2014 | 9:40 a.m. CARSON CITY A $1 million fine is being levied on Peppermill Casinos Inc. that ow ns operation in Reno, Sparks, Henderson and Wendover for sending out an employee to illegally gather information on the slot machine win percentages of its comp etitors. The state Gaming Control Board and the Peppermill signed a settlement Thursday i n which the company admitted the allegations in the two-count complaint. The complaint alleged that since 2011, Peppermill employee Ryan Tors had a slot machine reset key that allowed him to enter the slots in other competitors to dete rmine the amount of hold. That s the amount of money kept by casino on the wagers. On July 12, 2013, security caught Tors using a reset key at the Grand Sierra Res ort in Reno. A subsequent investigation revealed that, beginning at least in 201 1, Tors had used the reset key to obtain the information in 10 other casinos in the Reno-Sparks and Wendover areas. The complaint, drafted by Senior Deputy Attorney General Michael Somps, said Pep permill s management instructed Tors to use a slot machine reset key to access and obtain theoretical hold percentages information from slot machines belonging to one or more casinos that are competitors. The stipulation, signed by Peppermill president William Paganetti Jr., said the casino company cooperated with board investigators in providing records and inte rviews with executives. Paganetti said the Peppermill, one of the largest clubs in Reno, did not use the information gained by Tors to change the hold percentage in its slot machines o r to gain a competitive advantage over other casinos. The board said, however, it would file another complaint against Peppermill if i t found the illegally obtained information was being used to change the slot mac hine hold percentage. Gaming Control Board records show the win percentage on slot machines statewide in 2013 was 6.4 percent. A reset key enables a person to place the slot machine into an out-of-service mo de and permits the person access to theoretical hold percentage information, diag nostic information, play history, events logs and game configuration. The Peppermill Casinos own Western Village in Sparks, Rainbow Club and Casino in Henderson, the Rainbow Casino and the Peppermill Inn & Casino, both in Wendover . The Nevada Gaming Commission must approve the stipulation.