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PeoPle to Watch 2022
Here Comes the Judge Jennifer Togliatti • Chairwoman, Nevada Gaming Commission fter 25 years as a deputy district attorney and a judge in the Nevada District Court, Jennifer Togliatti has a new challenge. She was appointed in October as the first woman to chair the Nevada Gaming Commission. Togliatti believes her judicial experience will help her in her new position. “I have over 20 years of experience assimilating a significant amount of information and trying to drill down into the issues that that need to be addressed,” she explains. “I’m used to making hard decisions. I’m used to knowing that not everybody’s going to leave happy all the time, at least in a courtroom. I used to call it a good day if 50 percent of the people are unhappy, and a typical day if everybody’s unhappy. “So you develop an ability to set aside the white noise and focus on the issues at hand and make the best decision you can, having reviewed all the information. And so that’s something I’ve been doing for well more than 20 years.” In Nevada, the Gaming Commission has the final say on licensing and regulatory changes, but the state Gaming Control Board does the investigations and makes recommendations. She says she understands there needs to be a good working relationship between the two agencies. “I’ve had the opportunity to observe the investigative work of their agency and to watch their meetings,” she says. “I think it’s interesting that a lot of times they ask questions that I’m wondering about, so that’s helpful. So far, my experience has been very positive.” A recent proposal to allow remote registration to permit cashless transactions is now before Nevada regulators. Since most gaming states permit this, she understands it’s going to be a pressing issue. “I was part of the working group that was put together for this issue,” she says. “There’s a history there that I’m going to have to become more familiar with as this issue comes before the commission. My guess is that there are concerns about the integrity and controls, and precedent. But I am mindful that’s a concern for them going forward, and I have no doubt I’ll be fully informed.” Like many matters that come before the state regulators, technology, sometimes quite complicated, is part of the issue. Togliatti says she’s going to be ready. “I’m going to rely on Jim Barbee, who’s the chief of the technology division, and who makes sure that the members of the board and the members of the commission understand the technology,” she says. “I’ve had an opportunity already to meet with him and get a presentation of what his division does. As with any state agency, they do as much as they can with the resources they have. So far, though, he’s been very responsive and has indicated to me that any questions I have at any time he’ll attempt to answer.” Togliatti is the first woman to chair the Gaming Commission, although there have already been two female chairs of the Gaming Control Board. She takes this very seriously. “It’s one of the great honors of my life,” she says. “I think it’s crucial that I do everything I can do to show that it doesn’t matter—women or men, it doesn’t matter. It’s the work, it’s the commitment, it’s the integrity that I bring to the job.” —Roger Gros
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Global Gaming Business JANUARY 2022
Spreading the Word Arthur Paikowsky • President, International Center for Responsible Gaming hen the National Center for Responsible Gaming was formed in 1994, not much was known about problem gambling. There had been a few sloppy studies done, but nothing was peer-reviewed or checked beyond the original researchers. Frank Fahrenkopf, the former CEO of the American Gaming Association, calls it the best thing he did during his 17-year term, setting up an organization to study problem gambling. But it was a risk, Fahrenkopf says. “We didn’t know what the research would find, but we knew we needed some answers.” Over the years, the now International Center for Responsible Gaming has produced groundbreaking research, first identifying how many people are afflicted by pathological (less than 1 percent) or problem gambling (less than 2 percent), as well as the physiological and mental causes, and suggestion of how it can be treated. The good work of the ICRG is well recognized in gaming circles, but now that sports betting and iGaming are spreading across many non-gaming companies, there needs to be more attention paid to the important work done by the center. That’s where Arthur Paikowsky comes in, recently appointed the president of the ICRG. He has worked for over 40 years in not-for-profit organizations, mostly charities. “I’m a cause-oriented person,” he says. “I have some different experiences with a combination of addiction and Las Vegas, so when the opportunity presented itself, it was the right thing for me.” Paikowsky says his understanding of the shape and goals of the ICRG convinced him that more needs to be done. “The space is ripe for advancement,” he insists. “We’re not raising nearly enough money for the great work we’re doing. When I look at what the research has taught the industry over the past 25 years, we now want to look ahead to the new challenges—sports betting, online gambling and things like that—we’re just scratching the surface of what needs to be done.” To accomplish those goals, Paikowsky has several items on his agenda. “We need to spread the word about what this organization has meant to the industry over the past 25 years,” he explains. “We also need to get into the head space of our board. We have really talented board members and they want to do more. So I want to get an understanding of who they are and how they fit into the industry. “I’m working on how the fundraising has been done in the past and making a plan for the future. I want to launch a very intense 2022 fundraising campaign by getting lots of people involved.” In the beginning, the NCRG was organized under the auspices of the AGA. That changed years ago, and today the ICRG is fully independent, but associated with the Division of Addictions at Harvard Medical School. “I had a meeting with the AGA recently and we talked a lot about collaboration and ways we could work more closely together,” Paikowsky says. “I think it would be a good thing to have someone from the AGA represented on our board, which hasn’t been the case in a while.” Paikowsky doesn’t want to change the basics, however. “Our organization is all about education and prevention,” he says. “Let’s get the information out before we have to deal with someone who has a gambling disorder. So a lot of our research is going to examine how to do that.” —Roger Gros
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