MGM Resorts Aria casino advertises illicit offshore platform

MGM Resorts International could be in hot water with regulatory authorities after a screenshot filmed at one of its venues advertised an illicit offshore gambling site. 

A screenshot captured from a PokerGo tournament, held at MGM’s Aria Resort and Casino in Las Vegas in April, displayed the logo of Monkey Tilt, which is an off-limits platform to U.S. bettors. 

As reported by Nevada Current, it represents another problem for the company, especially so soon after it had to pay $16 million in financial penalties to state and federal authorities for anti-money laundering violations.

However, it could be a matter of bad PR and negative headlines rather than further punitive enforcement from the authorities, given the actual situation.

“What you’re talking about sounds more sloppy than anything that would require a regulator to get involved,” says Alan Feldman, director of Strategic Initiatives for UNLV’s International Gaming Institute and a former MGM Resorts spokesman. 

“If it was an explicit endorsement, it would require a formal approval. If it amounted to an implicit endorsement, it probably should not have been approved.”

Quite simply, MGM Resorts cannot endorse illicit casino platforms, so this has to be an oversight. Anything else would surely be severely punished.

PokerGo is an online platform that streams various live poker tournaments and TV shows. It is occasionally filmed and produced at the studio on-site at Aria.

Monkey Tilt is one of many offshore casinos and betting sites, and one that only accepts cryptocurrency.  This is a tactic utilized by certain offshore platforms to evade law enforcement and monitoring by the authorities.

U.S. residents who attempt to access Monkey Tilt are met with a redirect message to monkeytilt.us, but the social casino/sweepstakes site is not in operation. 

In order to reach the site, users have to use a virtual private network (VPN), but this means circumventing the law and evading detection by masking the Internet Protocol (IP) address. 

Even if there has been an oversight, questions will be asked as to why there is a logo for an illegal offshore platform within a studio at an MGM Resorts venue. 

That was the message from Richard Schuetz, a former casino executive and California Gambling Control Commission member, who stated:

“Having a logo for an offshore site on an MGM event gives the impression that the MGM is endorsing this site.”

“It is totally inappropriate and contrary to the goals of Nevada’s model of regulated gaming,” he added.

Image credit: MGM Aria

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