More Mo. casinos disciplined for underage patrons

More Missouri casinos have been fined and workers disciplined for underage gambling since voters eliminated ID cards that tracked how much money people were betting.

Since November 2008, regulators have levied five fines against casinos in cases involving underage patrons and disciplined 56 casino employees. From 2006 until November 2008, the Missouri Gaming Commission fined just one casino and disciplined 30 workers.

Regulators say there is a link between the increase in penalties and the elimination of player cards. The casino industry disputes that and is studying better ways to keep underage people out of Missouri's 12 operating casinos.

A 2008 ballot measure overwhelmingly approved by voters removed Missouri's unique loss limits, which kept gamblers from buying more than $500 in chips in a two-hour span. The ballot measure also got rid of identification cards that gamblers needed to enter a casino and which were used to enforce the loss limits.

Gaming Commission Executive Director Gene McNary said the elimination of the ID cards contributed to an apparent increase in underage gamblers. He also said many of the recent violations involved "plain negligence."

A preliminary report said security guards at the Lumiere Place in downtown St. Louis allowed six people in even though their driver's licenses or military identifications indicated they were not yet 21. In at least three of those cases, the patrons' driver's licenses stated: "UNDER 21."

Others entered the casino without presenting identification or by using someone else's.

The casino was fined $60,000 in September after two incidents in May in which a 19-year-old played table games and an electronic gaming device and a 20-year-old played blackjack and roulette and was served alcohol.

"The commission is not going to tolerate just winking at the underage minor," McNary said. "It's the law."

A Lumiere Place spokesman said Monday that no one from the casino was available for comment.

In another case, Ameristar Casino Inc. was fined $25,000 in September because a security guard failed to notice the age on a 19-year-old's ID and let him into a Kansas City casino.

Ameristar spokesman Troy Stremming said there's no link between the increase in underage gambling cases and the elimination of the player cards in November 2008. Player cards did not have the gamblers' photos on them, and security guards always needed to check identification for those who appeared young, he said.

Stremming said the casino's best defense is well-trained employees.

"Teenagers and individuals in their early 20s, do at times try to push the envelope," he said. "It is our responsibility to catch them. We understand and welcome that obligation, that's why it's such an emphasis with our employee base."

In two neighboring states with casinos, regulators have seen fewer cases involving underage gamblers.

Illinois had 25 cases from the beginning of 2007 through October 2008. In the year since, it has seen about half that number. Iowa regulators also reported a decrease in cases in the past year.

The five fines went to two Missouri casinos that were the biggest financial backers for the 2008 ballot measure. Pinnacle Entertainment Inc., which owns Lumiere Place, donated $7.5 million to the campaign committee, and Ameristar gave $7.6 million.

Last week, the Missouri Gaming Association presented a report to regulators highlighting casinos' efforts to catch underage patrons by increasing employee training and using new technologies to detect fraudulent driver's licenses or identification cards.

Mike Winter, the industry group's executive director, said elimination of the player cards has meant casinos must work harder to keep underage gamblers out. But he also said with 25 million people coming to casinos each year, catching everyone is impossible.

"While we have greatly increased our efforts to prevent minors from gaining access, you have to ask, given the volume of patrons, if it's reasonable to expect this will never occur. It's my opinion the answer to this is 'no,'" he said.

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Associated Press Writer Bill Draper contributed to this report from Riverside, Mo.