Underage gamblers could lose their shirts and face misdemeanor charges

Underage gamblers usually get shown the door when they're found gambling in Nevada. The punishment, if any, goes to the casino for not preventing it.

But now that's changing. Don't assume you'll get a free pass if you're caught gambling and you're not 21.

Billy Dee Wallace, the underage Las Vegas man who tried to recoup his $600 loss at The Venetian by telling hotel officials he wasn't old enough to gamble legally, is now being prosecuted on misdemeanor charges.

"The district attorney's office approved prosecution," said Gaming Control Board member Randall Sayre.

With all the violent crimes in Las Vegas, underage gambling wouldn't seem to be a priority.

But Wallace pushed the envelope.

On May 6, the 6-foot-4, 220-pounder who supposedly looks closer to 30 than his real age of 20, played craps for more than four hours at five different tables at The Venetian. (This will be easy to prove since Wallace is on videotape.)

Instead of taking his losses like a man, after he was down $600, he went to management and said he was an underage gambler who wanted his money back. Then he embellished, saying he was a UNLV student and was doing this for a class project at the UNLV College of Hotel Administration. That, of course, was a whopper.

The Venetian gave him his money back.

Nine casino employees (dealers and supervisors) received one-day suspensions for not asking Wallace to prove he was old enough to gamble. One employee who asked Wallace for ID was commended.

Sayre said the board didn't have any problem with how The Venetian handled the incident, other than wishing the board had been informed, calling the hotel's policies "appropriate and fair."

"What was not appropriate is that a minor took advantage of his age to get his money back," Sayre said. "It's a statement to casinos and minors to use caution, because we take minors gambling seriously."

Sayre gets about four or five reports a week involving underage gambling. Few rise to the level of fines, although the law says Nevada casinos can face a $10,000 fine for allowing underage gamblers to play.

Since 1998, eight properties have been fined because of underage gambling. The biggest fine was $350,000 against the Las Vegas Hilton, where kids waiting in line for the Star Trek attraction were hanging in the casino.

The Venetian paid $10,000 following an incident with a 19-year-old who drank and gambled for more than an hour.

Many years ago, when I was the Review-Journal's gaming reporter, my pre-teen godchildren came to town and during a tour of downtown, the two boys played the slots right along with their mother. I knew better, but didn't stop them, figuring security would notice them and throw us all out. It took far longer than I thought it would to notice the little guys, but ultimately we got the boot, as we should. My thinking was that it was harmless, even though I knew it was illegal.

Now, those guys didn't turn out to be compulsive gamblers, although they did grow up to have a passion for poker, as did my friend and their mother.

But underage gamblers with gambling addictions are not unknown.

Take the notorious case of Debra Kim Cohen in 1987. Caesars Atlantic City was fined $100,000 by the New Jersey Casino Control Commission for letting her play blackjack and drink. She was a compulsive gambler ... at 17.

Hopefully, Wallace is not a compulsive gambler. I couldn't reach him to ask.

But nine people lost a day's pay because he decided to have some fun, so it's not like his actions didn't harm others. They did.

It goes back to that old responsibility thing.

He's going to find himself facing a misdemeanor. He's not going to do hard time by any means, but it will be an inconvenience.

His example may teach other underage gamblers they could face charges too, which hasn't happened in the past. Maybe that will deter some minors; maybe it won't.

But nobody should assume that underage gamblers will be punished by nothing more than a boot from the property. Not always, but sometimes, there may be consequences.

Jane Ann Morrison's column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail her at Jane@reviewjournal.com or call 383-0275.