KINGSTON, Jamaica – The Casino Gaming Commission (CGC) says it deepened its investigative capacity through an intensive three-day Gaming Investigations Training workshop, held July 14 to 16, as Jamaica prepares for the opening of the casino gaming sector.

The training was led by international expert Tyler Burtis, President of Burtis Investigations, a more than 20-year veteran of the California Department of Justice, where he served extensively in casino investigations.

Attendees included members of CGC’s Licensing, Registration and Compliance (LRC), Legal, and Enforcement and Investigations teams, as well as representatives from the Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency (MOCA) and the Financial Investigations Division (FID).

The workshop covered core areas of gaming investigations including anti-money laundering detection, financial crime analysis, interviewing techniques, and casino compliance investigations, drawing on Burtis’s direct casework experience, which includes the Normandie Casino prosecution, the Tran Organisation cheat case, and the investigation into world-famous poker player Archie Karas.

“Investigations are the backbone of the work that we do here at CGC, so this training forms part of our ongoing efforts to build institutional capacity as we move toward establishing a well-regulated casino gaming industry,” said Cleveland Allen, Chief Executive Officer of the CGC. “This is the latest in a series of training hosted by the Commission to ensure our team is equipped to detect, investigate, and address financial crime and compliance risks from the outset.”

Burtis, who retired as Special Agent in Charge of the Compliance and Enforcement Section for Southern California, the jurisdiction with the highest density of Tribal Casinos and the largest card rooms in the United States, was impressed by CGC’s collaborative approach to regulation.

“I am impressed that Jamaica and the CGC have been so proactive to learn about investigations, and learn from other countries, before you even have casinos open. So many countries around the world will open casinos and go down that road, then they try to figure out how to do these things afterwards,” he said.

“Also, the fact that the CGC is already collaborating with agencies like MOCA and FID is very impressive. It’s usually not until a few years down the road that many gaming commissions understand the importance of joining forces with your fellow partner agencies that also have a stake in this,” he added

Last month the CGC team trained with world-renowned game protection expert Richard Marcus, sharpening the skills used to regulate live table games like blackjack, roulette, baccarat, and craps. The training focused on game-play rules, dealing standards, and detecting advantage play and cheating methods used by casino cheats across the world.

That training occurred just weeks after the Commission hosted a three-day workshop with Gaming Laboratories International, dubbed GLI University, which covered casino licensing, slot machine engineering, forensic investigations, and the mathematical calculations behind odds, payouts, and profitability.

Following the recent passing of the Casino Gaming (General) Regulations, 2025, the CGC is now reviewing Jamaica’s first application for a casino gaming licence.