CLEVELAND, Ohio - Casino employees can now play slots and place bets at Ohio casinos where they don't work.

The Ohio Senate Wednesday voted 32-0 to approve a bill amending a law that forbid casino employees from gambling at any of Ohio's four casinos. The bill had been introduced by Rep. Bill Seitz, a Cincinnati Republican, and passed the House 94-3 in February.

The bill still needs Gov. John Kasich's signature and won't go into effect until 90 days after he signs. 

Seitz tried unsuccessfully twice last year to get the same measure passed when he was in the Senate.

Casino employees had been able to gamble at racinos. But racino employees, who could gamble at casinos, were not prohibited from gambling at other racinos. 

The bill permits a casino operator or employee "to participate in casino gaming at a casino facility, so long as the operator or employee does not have an interest in the facility, is not employed at the facility and does not have an interest or employment at an affiliated facility in Ohio."

The prohibition against gambling, a first-degree misdemeanor punishable by a maximum of 180 days in jail and a $1,000 fine, was included as part of the Casino Control Law enacted in September 2010.

No casino operator or employee has been charged with a violation of this prohibited conduct, the Ohio Legislative Service Commission reported.

"The changes made by House Bill 32 bring Ohio into alignment with neighboring jurisdictions where such an approach has proven fair and still maintains the integrity of casino gaming," Matthew Schuler, executive director of the Ohio Casino Control Commission, said in a statement Wednesday.

Nearly all gaming jurisdictions forbid employees to gamble at their casino to mitigate the risk they would use their internal knowledge of casino operations to cheat at games in collusion with other employees, Schuler testified March 8 before the Senate government oversight and reform committee.

"Out of an abundance of caution, the prohibition was applied to include all casino facilities," he said. "After five years of regulating and enforcing the law at Ohio's casinos, we have not had a case of employees from different casinos working in collusion to cheat. In fact, given the systems of surveillance, segregated duties and internal controls unique to each casino operator, it would be difficult to even attempt."

Two casino employees also testified in March that the measure would keep gaming revenue in Ohio.

Please take a moment and click here to help the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, a cleveland.com partner. Every dollar you give buys four meals for the hungry.