Today the Nevada Gaming Control Board approved of a deal between Caesars Entertainment (formerly Harrah’s) and 888 Holdings, a provider of online gambling overseas. Nevada’s Foreign Gaming Act requires the board to investigate and approve of any Nevada gambling companies that conduct business with companies outside the country. Since 888 is an international company based overseas, the board had to look into the deal and see if it would impact Nevada residents.

Prior to the passage of UIGEA in 2006, 888 accepted wagers from U.S. customers at their websites. That set off red flags for the NGCB, who needed to determine, among other things, whether the deal would involve Nevada residents with online gambling. In the deal, 888’s independent business-to-business division, Dragonfish, will provide software for Caesars to operate online gambling websites in the UK. Those websites would only be available to UK citizens and Americans would be banned.

After a two-week investigation, the Nevada Gaming Control Board approved the deal. This is the first time the Foreign Gaming Act has been used to determine the suitability of a business deal between a Nevada gambling company and an online gambling company. Back in 2007, the Nevada Gaming Control Board investigated the suitability of Hong Kong businesswoman Pansy Ho partnering with the MGM Mirage for shared ownership of the MGM Grand Macau. In that instance, they also found the partnership suitable. 888 Holdings us a public limited company listed on the London Stock Exchange. The news has not had any discernable effect on the stock, however, with shares dropping slightly today.

The Hard Rock really knows how to party! According to Nevada regulators, though, they are a little too eager to help customers party, even if it involves something illegal.

On Wednesday, the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino agreed to pay the Nevada Gaming Control Board $650,000 to settle a casino involving the supplying of drugs to casino customers. The settlement includes a $500,000 fine and $150,000 to pay for the cost of the investigation.

According to the complaint raised by state regulators, who have the power to strip the Hard Rock of their casino license, VIP hosts and security staff supplied drugs to undercover agents at the Body English nightclub, which is now closed, and the Vanity nightclub, which is located in the Vegas casino’s HRH Tower.

According to the complaint, undercover police offers and regulators were able to buy cocaine, marijuana and ecstasy and use the drugs in their bathroom. The VIP hosts and security staff, perhaps a little too accommodating, also let guests have sex in the nightclub bathrooms, which, though not illegal, violates gaming regulations.

By agreeing to the settlement, the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino avoided the case going to a regulatory hearing, where their license may have been in jeopardy. The casino did not admit guilt in the settlement, but says that they have fired all involved employees identified by regulators.

In addition, the casino stated that they have instituted a new program similar to secret shoppers, where people enter the premises like a normal customer to observe and report employee behavior. The casino ha also randomly drug tested all of their security personnel, nightlife personnel and vice presidents, with 97.5% passing.

Uh oh. All of this talk about online gambling has made the regulators in Nevada cranky. The Nevada Gaming Control Board is now telling licensed land-based casinos not to become involved in online gambling, at least for now.

Many land-based casino companies are believed to be talking with online casino businesses in an attempt to expand their reach in the gambling market. One such casino, Harrah’s Entertainment, has already opened its own online casino, though that casino does not currently accept American customers. If UIGEA is repealed or if the state of Nevada legalizes online gambling, that could change.

In the meantime, the NGCB is issuing a stern warning. Board member Randall Sayre called deals between licensed land-based casinos and unlicensed online casinos “inconsistent with the Nevada Gaming Control Act.” Well, he might be right. If there’s one thing that government regulators are knowledgeable on, it’s control.

He went on to say that such business relationships are not sound from “a state and federal perspective.” He says that even though there is no federal ban of online gambling. So much for that knowledgeable thing I was talking about. Sayre stated that the Nevada Gaming Control Board is currently investigating already established links between land-based casinos and online gambling companies.

Sayre and the rest of the folks at the NGCB seem to think that the industry can only be safe if it’s being regulated by the government. Certainly history has shown that the heavily regulated oil and banking industries have become much more secure since the government got involved. I mean, it’s not like we’ve had any recent crises with either of those sectors, right?

The truth is that there are already plenty of safe online casinos for USA players that are monitored, regulated and approved as safe by independent (non-government) online gambling authorities. Playing on those online casinos is also cheaper because they don’t pass on the cost of government licensing fees, taxes and the high employee wages and benefits required by the unions. If the NGCB really wants what’s best for the consumers, they should back off and let the casinos do their thing.

If there’s one thing the government knows how to do, it’s take money from others. Two different government agencies saw fit to fine the Palms Resort Casino and the casino had to pay a total of $100,000 in a settlement. And what did the casino do to get these fines? Well, nothing, except allow two tournaments to take place on their premises.

The Palms Resort Casino paid a $75,000 fine to the Nevada Gaming Commission and a $25,000 fine to the Nevada Gaming Control Board. This all came about after the state’s attorney general’s office received complains about two poker tournaments in 2007 that were held by third parties at the resort. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the tournaments did not register with the state’s gambling regulators prior to the events. The Palms Resort, by virtue of allowing the tournaments to take place on their property, is responsible for them, according to the NGC and NGCB.

Both tournaments came under fire for unpaid prizes. The United States Poker League hosted a tournament called the Poker Bowl. It was a team-based event that featured several famous professional poker players. After the tournament, however, the league found itself out of money and needed to sell off their assets. The tournament winners were never paid. The Palms, in a show of goodwill, stepped in and paid the $450,416 in prize money to the deserving players out of their own pocket, even though they were not the ones responsible for giving out the prizes. That, of course, wasn’t good enough for the government, who had to go to the trouble of investigating the claim. Therefore, they fined the Palms Resort Casino anyway.

The other complaint is about a tournament organized by Michael Eakman and Associates. The tournament was organized to benefit the Jewish Community Center of Southern Nevada. The tournament winnings did eventually get paid to the Community Center, but it took four months to do so. Again, this delay was caused by Michael Eakman and Associates, not the Palms Resort.

The Palms Resort Casino, despite being unfairly targeted by government bullies, did not fight the fines and paid them immediately upon notification. It was a big win for fans of bullying, greedy government agencies everywhere.