The Division of Gaming Enforcement dropped the hammer on five Atlantic City casinos and a racetrack in the state for an array of violations last month.
Transgressions ranged from underage gambling to gaming by excluded individuals to patrons who failed to provide proper identification. And the numbers for this window of actions from DGE Director David Rebuck are relatively staggering:
- 60 underage gamblers
- 11 excluded gamblers
- $67,730.77 in forfeited moneys
Money forfeited by operators, confiscated from patrons after they are asked for identification and were found to be underage or excluded, goes to the state of New Jersey. Officials then direct that money for programs to treat problem gambling as well as programs that benefit senior citizens and residents with disabilities.
Underage gambling permeates at Atlantic City casinos
One of the more notable stats from this round of director’s actions surrounded underage gambling.
As noted, Atlantic City casinos confiscated winnings from 60 underage patrons.
The biggest offense occurred at Ocean Casino Resort, which forfeited $778.15 in winnings awarded to 23 underage individuals.
Golden Nugget Atlantic City reported 18 underage gamblers, while Resorts Atlantic City saw 12. The other seven had winnings confiscated at Harrah’s Atlantic City.
All told, underage gambling resulted in $2,487.45 in forfeited money.
AC casinos forfeit money from failed identification
Resorts, Ocean and Golden Nugget saw other incidents occur stemming from requests for identification. Namely: Winners didn’t have any.
Within each direction, the report states that these casinos found that individuals “failed to produce adequate identification, abandoned certain assets, or were otherwise prohibited from engaging in gaming activity.”
At Resorts, that meant forfeiting $11,421.03 after adjustments from the DGE. Ocean, meanwhile, forfeited $6,624.84 after the casino discovered that 25 individuals failed produce adequate identification or were prohibited from gambling.
Similarly, Golden Nugget forfeited $1,229.67.
Self-excluded gamblers still finding ways to gamble
The last section of incidents could be perceived as a bit more alarming. The self-exclusion list serves as a way for individuals who believe they have gambling problems to prohibit themselves from actually gambling. One places their own name on this list to keep them honest, as it were.
However, as Resorts saw in droves, those individuals still find their way back to the casino floor.
The Atlantic City property forfeited over $51,000 for incidents dating back to 2020. This includes $33,589.75 in forfeiture after Resorts discovered four patrons on the exclusion list were gambling illegally.
Bally’s Atlantic City forfeited $5,640.80 after three excluded gamblers attempted to claim winnings. Freehold Raceway confiscated over $4,400 in winnings from two self-excluded individuals, and Golden Nugget, also with a pair of excluded patrons, forfeited over $2,300.
While only a drop in the bucket compared to what Atlantic City casinos and racetracks make annually – casinos have generated over $2.4 billion in Atlantic City gambling revenue through October – these transgressions continue to indicate that more can be done to help ease concerns regarding problem gambling in New Jersey.
