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05:20 PM PST on Monday, November 15, 2004
SEATTLE - A casino security camera video obtained by KING 5 News shows a
teenager buying a beer and then sitting down to gamble at the Silver
Dollar Casino in Mountlake Terrace.
The same teen was seen playing blackjack at the Crazy Moose Casino and
again at Parker's Casino in Shoreline.
The undercover gambler sent by state agents was a young-looking
16-year-old.
"I thought there was no way he would be allowed to gamble, let alone
purchase alcohol and to my surprise 3 places let him do both," said Mark
Harris of the Washington State Gambling Commission.
KING The undercover gambler sent by state agents was a young-looking 16-year-old.
The sting comes as a teen gambling craze is sweeping the country. Two former Shoreline High School students exposed the phenomenon in a documentary that showed underage kids gambling for money in basements, back yards and casinos.
Dan Myers says he used a self-made fake ID to sneak into local casinos at least 20 times, losing a total of $500.
"You get really excited when you win a big pot and you just seek that excitement every time you go back to the casino but usually you just come up empty-handed," he said.
What's more, punishment for casinos that allow underage gambling is weak at best. First time offenders face a maximum fine of just $200.
That's an outrage to parents.
"One in 12 adolescents in Washington state are problem gamblers. And that's a 1999 statistic. That was before we had Internet gambling as expansive as it is. That's before the lottery and pull tabs have expanded as they have," said Jennifer McCausland of Second Chance Washington.
And with all that, the state gambling commission's budget is being cut by $2.5 million next year, meaning they'll have even fewer enforcement people trying to keep kids out of casinos.
KING 5 News contacted management at all three casinos targeted in the sting operation. They all refused comment for this story.
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