Nevada’s list of excluded persons — the infamous “black book” filled with the names of people forever banned from the state’s major casinos — is expected to change in the coming months as the Nevada Gaming Commission on Thursday will consider the addition of the 39th person to be listed and a petition from a person already listed to be removed.
The five-member commission will consider the inclusion of San Juan Capistrano, Calif., resident Mathew Raymond Bowyer, who pleaded guilty to federal charges of operating an illegal gambling operation, money laundering and filing a false tax return. He took sports bets from an estimated 700 players, including Ippei Mizuhara, former interpreter and de facto agent for Los Angeles Dodgers baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani.
Thursday’s commission meeting begins at 9 a.m., an hour earlier than when the panel normally meets. The meeting is in Las Vegas and will be streamed live on the Nevada Gaming Control Board’s YouTube channel.
Bowyer served about five months of a one-day sentence that began in October. He was released from a federal prison in Lompoc, Calif., to a halfway house in March and will be on supervised probation for two years.
Will not fight against inclusion
In a February phone interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Bowyer indicated he doesn’t expect to fight to get on the list, citing the cost of hiring an attorney to represent him. As of Tuesday, there was no indication from Gaming Control Board representatives that Bowyer would attend the hearing, although he has been notified.
But in his interview with the Review-Journal, Bowyer expressed disdain for being considered for inclusion in the book, which lists the worst of the worst criminals that regulators say should be banned from Nevada casinos for committing crimes that hurt the gaming industry and could bring the state into disrepute.
“I think it’s absolutely ridiculous that they’re telling me I can’t set foot in a licensed gaming property in the state of Nevada,” Bowyer said in the interview. “I mean, I understand they don’t want me to be able to play again, but to tell me I can’t take my 4-year-old boy to Circus Circus or have dinner at Javier’s at Aria is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.”
Scapegoat
Bowyer said he believes he’s “the go-to guy for everything and everyone in this situation.”
He said the day before the RJ interview he was visited by two Control Board agents who notified him of his nomination to the list and explained his options to fight inclusion. But he doubts he will fight it because he said he cannot afford the legal representation needed to make his case before the commission.
In the wake of Bowyer’s case, three casino companies have been disciplined by the Gaming Commission and fined.
Bowyer’s name has come up in three previous disciplinary actions taken in 2025 involving a $10.5 million fine imposed on Resorts World Las Vegas and its parent company, Genting Berhad, in March; $8.5 million fine against MGM Resorts International in April; and a $7.8 million fine against Caesars Entertainment Inc. in November.
These actions involved the second, fourth and fifth highest fines ever assessed in a gambling disciplinary case.
Nicole Bowyer
There are still pending cases before the Gaming Commission for Bowyer’s wife, Nicole Bowyer.
More than a year ago, on January 30, 2025, the gaming commission delayed action on a complaint against Nicole Bowyer, who worked as an independent agent for Resorts World Las Vegas.
Nicole Bowyer was banned for at least five years as an agent who encourages a player to play at a specific casino and receives a commission from the casino based on the player’s losses.
Commissioners delayed a decision on a settlement with her because they wanted to see her face harsher penalties. Commissioners separately said they wanted to see Nicole Bowyer fined or possibly have her agent status revoked for life.
Mathew Bowyer claims Resorts World never trained his wife on money laundering compliance, saying casino operators “never had an ounce of AML (anti-money laundering) training”.
“It was something that was meant to be done,” he said. “I found out later because I didn’t know anything about being a casino host and neither did my wife because they were so hungry for our business. They were obviously fine with it. But the fact that they didn’t train. I feel like it’s just completely, you know, unfair would be the best word I could use.”
Since Resorts World was fined, Genting has taken several steps to strengthen AML compliance, including applying for and receiving licenses for two board members, former Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval and former Gaming Control Board Chairman AG Burnett.
If approved for inclusion on the list, Bowyer would become its 39th member, after commissioners unanimously approved the inclusion of Newport Coast, Calif., resident Wayne Nix as No. 38 in February.
Nix, a former minor league baseball pitcher, is an illegal bookie whose casino games at the MGM Grand, The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas and other MGM Resort properties led former MGM Grand president Scott Sibella to plead guilty to failing to report to federal officials about illegal gamblers playing at the casino while he worked there in 2018.
Prospective removal
While Bowyer’s inclusion would add to the list, commissioners will also consider the unprecedented removal of a living person from it.
Scheduled just before the Bowyer hearing is discussion of a petition to remove Francis Citro Jr., 80, whose lawyer asked in November for a hearing on the matter.
A popular entertainer at Las Vegas’ Italian American Club, Citro hopes his delisting would allow him to perform his collection of bebop music, Italian folk songs, jokes and stories about Las Vegas’ past mobsters in a casino lounge one day.
Las Vegas attorney Michael Lasher filed the 10-page delisting request in November, saying Citro has changed his life since he was placed on the list on Nov. 21, 1991.
In a hearing in January, Lasher said: “Over the decades, the petitioner’s character and reputation have become stellar. He is a reformed man who does good for his community by raising money for charity as an entertainer.”
In January, commissioners chose to postpone a hearing for a month, and then Citro asked for a further delay until April to prepare its case.
No decision Thursday
At Thursday’s hearing, commissioners are not expected to make a decision on removal, but to decide whether to schedule a comprehensive hearing on Citro’s request. If commissioners vote against it, the issue would be considered resolved and Citro would remain on the list. If a hearing is postponed, Citro can bring witnesses to testify about his character before a removal order is considered.
If successful, Citro would be the first living person ever to be delisted.
The Gaming Commission routinely reviews the list to remove people who have died over the years. Currently, there are at least two people on the list who have died in recent years.
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TOP FINE
Here is a list of the top 10 fines imposed by the Nevada Gaming Commission for disciplinary actions against casinos.
1. Wynn Resorts Ltd., $20 million, 2019.
2. Resorts World Las Vegas, $10.5 million, 2025
3. Steve Wynn, $10 million, 2023.
4. MGM Resorts International, $8.5 million, 2025
5. Caesars Entertainment, $7.8 million, 2025
T6. CG Technology (then known as Cantor G&W Holdings), $5.5 million, 2014.
T6. Wynn Resorts Ltd., $5.5 million, 2025.
8. The Mirage, $5 million ($3 million fine, $2 million restitution payment), 2003.
9. Stardust, $3 million, 1985.
10. Santa Fe Station, $2.2 million ($1.5 million fine, $700,000 restitution payment), 2005.
