UPDATE: San Jose Police Chief Chris Moore conducted a public hearing Monday morning at CityHall, but no immediate approval was given to Casino M8trix’s permit request. The casino will be allowed to open once it meets the conditions set forth by administrator Richard Teng, of the SJPD Division of Gaming Control. Casino operators were given the opportunity to speak at the hearing but declined.
Richard Teng, the San Jose Police Department’s administrator for the Division of Gaming Control, gave a new glimpse into the fight between Casino M8trix and the police Friday, when he sent out a memo recommending that the $50 million card room be allowed to open its doors if eight recommendations are met.
The memo includes previously unknown details about the card room owners’ dealings with police, as Teng has not made any public comments since the Casino M8trix’s opening date went into limbo. The relationship between police and Casino M8trix owners became contentions after the card room wasn’t allowed to open in early April, as casino owners planned.
Police Chief Chris Moore will hold a permit hearing at 10am Monday at City Hall to consider Teng’s report and decide if Casino M8trix can open. Gaming on the top floor will not be discussed during the hearing.
The recommendations show that police still have serious concerns about how the money will move, and casino owner Eric Swallow’s other business ventures could receive intense scrutiny as a result. Teng noted that Dolchee, a gaming company Swallow owns, had a pivotal role in funding the construction of Casino M8trix. The administrator wants to reserve the right to access company records.
Swallow also owns a company called Profitable Casino, LLC. The company manufactures devices that when attached to a card table can “track activities such as the number of hands being dealt per hour; identity of the employee and length of time at the table; player and/or funding source win/loss information; payroll information; etc.” Teng recommends that Casino M8trix train his staff on how this system works and then submit bi-monthly reports on card room activity.
Another source of criticism in the memo was a surveillance system install that may have broken a city ordinance. Casino M8trix apparently violated code by removing cameras from its still-active Garden City location so it could pass an inspection test at Casino M8trix.
“During a recent inspection of the system at Casino M8trix for camera clarity via the remote surveillance system at the Division, it appeared that the clarity of the images was sufficient,” Teng wrote. “However, since that inspection, Garden City has removed at least ten (l0) high definition cameras from the proposed Casino M8trix location to be returned to and re-installed at the current Garden City Cardroom, from where these cameras were apparently removed. The Division also learned that these cameras in question were originally installed in the high limit room at Garden City Cardroom and that spare cameras, which were previously deemed unsatisfactory, were put in their place while the high definition cameras were installed at the proposed Casino M8trix for the above inspection.”
Teng’s report also says Casino M8trix has not followed through on promises to provide new state of the art equipment to police to remotely monitor activity at Casino M8trix.
Click the link to see the full report on police recommendations for Casino M8trix.
What does gaming on the top floor have to do with the movement of money? This is really foolish. San Jose needs more entertainment. This is a great idea and needs to be open. Stop messing around and open the place already. If San Jose didn’t want the gaming place here, they should have told them at the start of this mess. And, BTW, isn’t this a source of revenue, which San Jose desperately needs?
That’s right, either the money is spent here or it’s taken to some Indian casino in another county. Why not here.
Finally ! Status on what’s happening with this site.
How was it possible for them to get all the way through the approval process, and then have the cops stop the opening?
Shouldn’t the police review have happened awhile back, like during the approval process?
Very disappointed to see that this site (which has so many potential jobs for the San Jose area) has been dragged out now for almost 4 months beyond opening. I never knew that the cops could see into a casino (a private building open to the public) and I appreciate your reporting as no one else appears to be evening talking about this issue.
Meanwhile, M8trix owner Eric Swallow continues to take fatty Pete Constant to lunch every week so the council clown can lobby on the casino’s behalf.
That’s right. Pete “I faked my disability” Constant.