Casino commissioners off to Vegas for April training

Members of the Commonwealth Casino Commission are going to Las Vegas, Nevada to continue training in anticipation of the opening of Saipan’s first casino.

Executive director Edward Deleon Guerrero said the commissioners will undergo training from April 20 to April 24 at the University of Nevada.

Unlike the previous training, this time the university has devised a “specialized training” for the commissioners, he said, based on the different regulations used in casinos in Singapore, Japan, Macau, and South Africa.

“The professors for the training are actual lawyers, who will teach gaming laws,” Guerrero said. He said the training will be eight hours a day, for five days.

He said gaming commissioners from Tinian and Rota were also invited to join.

The casino commission on Friday unanimously voted to adopt draft regulations for Saipan’s fledgling gaming industry.

The commission held a meeting to adopt “Resolution No. 2015-001” or the “Commonwealth Casino Commission Rules and Regulations.” The regulations include provisions for the collection of fees, licensing of employees, and provisional licensing for vendors, among others.

A provision for junket operators is still pending, and will be tackled after another round of review by the commission.

The regulations have been subject to an “emergency adoption because of the government’s urgent need for financial resources,” the resolution states.

Deleon Guerrero said the regulations were fast-tracked to allow the Saipan casino licensee—Best Sunshine International, Ltd.—to move forward with its planned temporary “live” training facility at the T Galleria in Garapan.

The resolution states that the “[Best Sunshine] is presently unable to hire and train employees or order gaming machines or equipment in order to implement the live training operations and other gaming activities without the existence of the Commonwealth Casino Commission Rules and Regulations, thereby hindering the job market for Commonwealth job seekers and jeopardizing the Commonwealth’s ability to immediately collect urgently needed revenues from the casino industry.”

The adopted casino regulations will now be forwarded to the office of Gov. Eloy S. Inos.

Saipan’s first casino, albeit a temporary one, is expected to start operating sometime in June or July, according to Best Sunshine.