Four Maryland-based casinos have signed a consent agreement with state regulators and according to the clauses that agreement contains, they are to work in collaboration with Maryland gambling regulators for dealing with a serious problem in state casinos – the access underaged residents have to gambling facilities.
The aforementioned consent agreements are waiting for the approval of the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Commission but according to the information revealed, Maryland Live! and Horseshoe Casino Baltimore are to pay $1,000 and $8,000 respectively for allowing underaged players to take part in gambling activities.
Each of the above-mentioned casinos have two agreements with Maryland gambling regulators. As for Ocean Downs and Hollywood Casino Perryville, they each have one.
What all agreements have in common is that they require casinos to make sure they prevent minors from accessing gambling premises. Solid sanctions were also included in some of the agreements.
Back in February, Horseshoe Casino was caught violating the rules and its executives received a special notice. It was said that the level of security was not sufficient as there has been five occasions when underaged players were enabled to participate in various gambling activities. The sanction for that was estimated at $6,000. The other agreement Horseshoe signed requires casino executives to pay $2,000. As for Maryland Live!, it is to pay $1,000.
However, neither Horseshoe representatives nor Maryland Live! spokesperson was available for comment that would terminate all rumors and speculations.
The issue with letting underaged players into casino premises is getting more and more complicated, despite Maryland regulators’ efforts to stop that tendency. They compile a report on the matter on monthly basis and statistic shows that the number of such incidents is increasing.
As far as the report compiled in March is concerned, it says that the Horseshoe Casino was attended by five underaged patrons. Three of them presented a suspicious means of identification, while the other two “climbed over the barrier into the smoking terrace”.
In point of fact, Maryland officials have been attempting to remedy the situation for quite some time and back in 2013, two of the casinos had to pay serious fines due to the same allegations – letting minors gamble.
People familiar with the matter hurried up to remind that the issue is to become even more troublesome as the state is going to have its gambling sector diversified within a few years.
