New Zealand’s SkyCity Entertainment Group says it will shutter the gaming area at its Auckland casino for five days from Monday 9 to Friday 13 September 2024 under a settlement agreement recently reached with the Secretary for Internal Affairs over a “continuous play” complaint from a former customer.
Non-gaming attractions, including hotels, attractions, restaurants and bars outside of the gaming area will remain open as usual during this period, the company explained by way of a filing.
SkyCity had previously warned that it could face a closure of up to 10 days in relation to the matter after the Secretary filed an application for temporary suspension of the casino operator’s license. This application followed a complaint from a former customer who gambled at SkyCity Auckland between August 2017 to February 2021.
SkyCity stated last month that it has acknowledged it did not meet the requirement in the SkyCity Auckland Host Responsibility Programme (HRP), and therefore the licence, relating to the detection of some incidents of continuous play by the customer due to a design error in a technology system developed by SkyCity to monitor continuous play by carded customers.
It also acknowledged that it failed to exercise the level of vigilance required by the HRP to use staff observation and intervention independently and alongside that technology to identify incidents of continuous play by the customer and then act appropriately.
SkyCity said it has committed to implement mandatory carded play across its New Zealand casinos by mid-2025, and at the SkyCity Adelaide casino by the end of 2025.
