Jake’s 58 Casino Hotel on Long Island, New York, has appealed a fine imposed by the New York State Gaming Commission for failing to procure necessary gaming licenses for over two dozen employees. In December, the state’s gaming regulatory agency informed the Suffolk Regional Off-Track Betting Corporation (Suffolk OTB), which owns and operates the video lottery casino and hotel, that 34 of its staff members were not properly licensed. The commission discovered that nine employees were working without a license, while 25 others had expired or incorrect licenses. This information came to light through a Freedom of Information Law request by Newsday.
After determining that 26 employees remained noncompliant, the gaming commission fined Suffolk OTB $26,000 on April 1. Jake’s 58 has contested the penalty, arguing that the violations originated when the casino was under the ownership of Delaware North.
Suffolk OTB purchased Jake’s 58 in 2021 for $120 million from Delaware North, a Buffalo-based gaming and hospitality conglomerate. Delaware North had initially helped Suffolk OTB open the video lottery casino inside a former Marriott hotel in early 2017. Currently, Jake’s offers over 1,000 video lottery terminals (VLT), which are slot-like machines operated by a centralized lottery network. Jake’s is one of 11 VLT casinos in New York State, where approximately 46% of gross gaming revenue is retained by the casino, 44% is allocated to state education, and the remaining 10% goes to vendors and lottery system administration.
As Jake’s 58 undergoes a $210 million expansion to double its VLT positions and renovate its 210 guestrooms, the investment will also add new dining outlets, reopen an indoor swimming pool, build a multilevel parking garage, and install a sound barrier to mitigate noise for a nearby neighborhood. Despite these developments, state gaming regulators emphasize that Suffolk must ensure its workforce remains in regulatory compliance. Suffolk OTB CEO Phil Boyle told Newsday that the company is in the process of hiring for a new full-time position dedicated to overseeing employee licensing.
Boyle indicated that the licensing issues predominantly pertain to the period when Delaware North managed the casino. “Though we were only recently notified of any issues … questions date back to when Delaware North ran Jake’s 58 Casino Hotel. It is our intention to address them, resolve them, and become a statewide model for other casinos to follow regarding license compliance,” Boyle stated.
Delaware North, in a statement to Casino.org, maintained that it was unaware of any worker non-compliance during its tenure managing Jake’s 58. “Delaware North operated gaming at Jake’s 58 under a management contract with Suffolk Regional Off-Track Betting from the venue’s opening in February 2017 to May 2021. Delaware North did not receive any notices of employee licensing violations during its period of managing Jake’s 58 on behalf of Suffolk OTB]. Delaware North is strongly committed to gaming compliance, including employee licensing, at our casinos and other gaming venues in New York, seven other states, and Australia,” the statement read.
Additionally, Jake’s 58 might face new competition if Las Vegas Sands secures one of the three downstate casino licenses expected to be granted next year. Sands aims to build a $6 billion integrated resort casino at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum site, roughly 30 miles west of Jake’s 58. However, the Sands project has encountered significant local opposition and is located only 20 miles east of Resorts World New York City, a favorite for one of the three downstate concessions. Jake’s 58 is not bidding for one of the full-scale gaming licenses that include Las Vegas-style slot machines, live dealer table games, and sports betting.
