12 year old caught gambling at Star Casino

Sydney’s Star Casino has been slapped with $90,000 in fines after a number of minors were caught gambling and drinking on different occasions between March and July, 2019.

Among these minors was a 12-year-old girl, whose mother used the exit doors to sneak her in. The mother took her daughter to the main gaming floor where she managed to go undetected for 17 minutes while she placed 21 bets on the pokie machines.

When trying to leave the venue, the pair was stopped by security guards in what the NSW Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority say was a serious breach of standards. 

The girl and her parents were in Australia on tourist visas from China.

"It's quite staggering that the young girl's parents facilitated her entry in such a deceptive manner, let alone allowed their daughter to gamble," chair Philip Crawford said.

David Byrne, ILGA Director of Investigations and Intervention said minors trying to sneak in through the exit doors is a risk that the Casino should have anticipated.

"However, not only did The Star fail to manage the risk, once the child was on the gaming floor, there were a number of opportunities where staff should have noticed a very young person playing the poker machines – well before they actually did which was when the family was leaving," Mr Byrne said. 

In another incident, a 17-year-old boy entered the casino with his actual driver’s license and had interactions with staff on at least 15 different occasions throughout his 3.5 hour visit.

During this time the minor was served alcohol, played 42 rounds of roulette and 22 hands of poker before it was noticed that he was underage and was thrown out by security.

Further to that a 16-year-old girl entered the venue through a VIP entrance without being asked for ID.

When she was stopped and asked for ID on the main gaming floor,  she produced a fake driver's license and was subsequently served alcohol. 

"Both children's forays lasted long enough that they had interacted with several staff members by the time they were discovered," Mr Byrne said. 

"In the 17-year-old boy's case, CCTV showed a total of 15 staff interactions."

The Star Casino reported all three incidents and received a $60,000 fine for the incident involving the 12-year-old, and $15,000 each for the teens.

In 2018 the Casino reported 35 instances of minors gaining access to restricted areas, with an extra 32 cases in 2019.