By
Jerry Smith
Staff Writer Updated: 11/10/2021
Jerry’s greatest advantage is his extensive experience on the casino floor. His time as a casino manager taught him everything about what makes a player tick. Besides being a skilled poker player, he has deep knowledge of all live table games and gambling regulations in the US.
Four Iowa Casinos Fined for Permitting Underage People
It has been revealed that four casinos have been fined by the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission due to violations that involved underage patrons. In total, the four casinos will have to pay $130,000 to the commission for the various violations.
The four casinos involved in the violations are the Catfish Bend Casino in Burlington, the Horseshoe Casino in Council Bluffs, Prairie Meadows in Altoona, and the Diamond Jo Worth Casino in Northwood. The gaming commission provided details of how each of the casinos involved breached underage regulations and how much each of them was fined.
Officials from the gaming commission revealed that with all of the violations, the casinos had enabled underage people to enter the casino floor. In addition, it was revealed that the minors had or most likely had gambled while there.
With regard to the Catfish Bend Casino, an underage male is said to have entered the casino floor without being challenged or checked regarding his age. The casino has since agreed to pay a fine of $30,000 to the commission.
Racing and gaming administrator Brian Ohorilko said:
He entered the casino floor unchallenged, was on the floor for 47 minutes. It was not discernable whether the individual had gambled — pulled a ticket out of the machine, and based on a preponderance of the evidence, we felt the individual did gamble.
Two violations were identified for the Horseshoe Casino, which resulted in a fine of $60,000. One minor female was allowed to enter the casino floor with an adult and then proceeded to gamble on slot machines for more than half an hour.
A couple of months later, a 17-year-old female spent five hours on the gaming floor and was gambling, according to the reports.
The Prairie Meadows casino was hit with a $20,000 fine for underage violations after a male minor entered the gaming floor with two adults. He was said to have been gambling on the casino floor for around an hour and had not been challenged over his age. Eventually, a security officer picked up on the underage male.
Finally, a $20,000 fine was issued to the Diamond Jo Worth Casino after a minor spent two hours on the gaming floor without being challenged and had been gambling.
Iowa officials, and those in other states, have identified a growing issue with gambling addiction, which has become more prevalent due to online gambling.
They are keen to tackle these issues and to ensure that underage people are not given the chance to develop problems early on. Casinos are required to ensure that underage people do not enter the casino floor in a bid to try and tackle this issue.
With all the cases, minors were not only able to enter the casino floor without being checked or challenged by staff but also spent time gambling at the properties. This is something that the commission is keen to clamp down on, hence the hefty penalties.
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