Commissioners give former Galaxy CEO reprieve from ‘The Big D’

Among Nevada Gaming Commission members, it’s referred to as “The Big D.”

It stands for “Denial,” one of the options regulators have when considering any licensing request.

A denial doesn’t just mean an applicant can’t participate in a business. It’s a scarlet letter and a badge of dishonor that tells others in the industry to stay away from that individual.

One hundred thirty-seven former licensees have that badge. Before an addition, July 30, the last time a denied applicant was placed on the list was Nov. 21, 2016.

The Gaming Commission had the opportunity to use “The Big D” last week but didn’t in what turned out to be a 3-2 vote.

It came at the end of more than three hours of testimony for a request from Robert Saucier, the former chairman, president and CEO of Galaxy Gaming Inc., a company that produces game products, many of which are side bets on traditional table games like blackjack. Galaxy products are operated by the six largest Southern Nevada casino companies, and some of them are respected franchises: Lucky Ladies, Texas Shootout and Three Card Poker.

Saucier’s appearance, initially heard by the Gaming Control Board in March, was a request to withdraw previous licensing plans. In other words, Saucier wanted out.

Most of the time, requests to withdraw are fairly routine actions that take just a couple of minutes to resolve and vote on.

But in this case, board members wanted him out — permanently, following previous run-ins with regulators in Nevada and California.

Saucier was reprimanded by the Gaming Control Board earlier this year for attempting to change the makeup of Galaxy’s five-member board of directors. Following a previous run-in with the commission in 2017, Saucier was allowed to be a director and to hold shares in the company but not a controlling interest. The company and Saucier ended up going to court with Saucier attempting to recover payments he says he is owed. The case is pending.

The board voted unanimously to recommend denial of the withdrawal and all pending applications, forwarding it to the Gaming Commission for its final say.

The Gaming Commission took this up at a hearing last month.

Through his attorney, Mark Ferrario, Saucier told commissioners he just wanted out, promising never to return.

Commissioners were faced with accepting the recommendation for denial, overturning it, which would have required a unanimous vote, or a third option made available by statute to the commission a few years ago — rejection.

Ferrario pleaded for a rejection.

“He’s not a criminal, he’s not a convicted felon. He’s not a cheat. He didn’t steal money from the state of Nevada. He didn’t hide taxes,” he said. “He ran a very successful company in over 100 jurisdictions, had a few blips on the screen, addressed them, wasn’t fined, wasn’t sanctioned; nothing in his background, nothing in his history and certainly a sloppy application that took 10 years to get processed should not amount to a denial.”

The majority of the commission agreed and voted for rejection.

“There are some people who do stupid things, and there are some people who do criminal and bad things,” Chairman John Moran said. “And there are people who really do dumb things, but they have a reason to do it and there’s not a malicious intent. And we need some kind of a vehicle where we don’t bury somebody, in the words of (former Commission Chairman) Dr. (Tony) Alamo, ‘The Big D.’”

Moran said a denial would mean Saucier would “have a lot of swimming upstream to do.”

Commissioners Deborah Fuetsch and Rosa Solis-Rainey voted against the motion to reject licensing and made statements indicating they preferred denial.

So, Saucier has another chance.

While he told commissioners he just wants out, he has the ability to return someday.

But Moran said the commission still “has a rope around his neck.”

“When he comes back and sees us again, we can give him the 2,000 pages of transcripts of what we said at this meeting and say, ‘OK, what do you think we should do?’ even though he said in his opening statement that he’s done.”

Maybe then, he would see “The Big D.”

Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter.