The 3 Biggest Challenges to Securing Casino Floors

Casino floors are high-stakes environments, ripe with potential safety and financial risks—money is continuously changing hands, multiple events are occurring simultaneously, and patrons can become emotional after wins, losses, and consumption of alcohol. Unless surveillance and security departments have their eyes on the right screen at the right moment, cheating and endangerment can go unnoticed.

Read below for the three biggest challenges of securing casino floors: 

Risk and reward are predominant themes within a casino, increasing the likelihood of heated emotional responses. Following a big loss, an angry patron might be more likely to cause harm to facilities, assets, or other patrons. The consumption of alcohol—often in excess—also increases the possibility of disorderly conduct. Behavioral unknowns present a formidable challenge for surveillance and security teams who need to be prepared to handle any situation at any time.

Fortunately, there are tools available to help predict and plan for various outcomes and effectively prevent future incidents from occurring. Fully integrated software featuring built-in data analysis allows surveillance teams to spend less time collecting, managing, and reporting data, and more time gaining insights into trends. Mitigating unknowns enables surveillance and security teams to devise effective strategies for improving the prevention of—and response to—incidents. 

Theft and cheating are risks in every game on the casino floor, even slot machines. Patrons may attempt to steal unattended winnings or chips or team up to count cards. By reporting on a patron's wins, losses, and interactions—within the property and with other guests or staff—surveillance personnel can track behavioral trends to determine whether the suspect is playing safely and legally or, in fact, stealing from the casino. But traditional manual reporting can make this a daunting task. 

Software that records data and stores associated media files helps surveillance personnel report, quantify, and spot trends more readily. For example, photos of banned or self-excluded patrons enable security guards to identify these individuals at the gate and escort them out before they enter. Likewise, if there is a pattern of patrons attempting to leave from a certain exit without paying, data generated from these reports will help identify the need for increased security in that area. 

Regardless of the scenario, data-enabled reporting software can help surveillance and security teams save time, improve fairness, and prevent loss. 

Maintaining complete and accurate incident reports helps reduce the risk of liability and lawsuits. Recording incident details and actions taken to resolve the situation—and prevent recurrence—provides a complete audit trail that can be referenced to mitigate liability should legal action be taken. 

Internal theft can create a different type of liability issue. In the event an employee is fired for stealing, maintaining detailed reports of their suspicious behavior can protect your organization against a wrongful termination lawsuit. 

Incident reporting systems can also help your gaming operation adhere to Gaming Commission requirements. Having a comprehensive, fully integrated solution in place ensures compliance with industry standards and government regulations. 

Ready to learn more about Omnigo’s comprehensive suite of gaming and hospitality security solutions? Contact us to request a demo.