New Jersey's Casino Control Commission has handed down the second-largest fine ever for underage gambling in Atlantic City.
The Hilton casino rolled the dice by allowing a 19-year-old kid from Brooklyn to gamble back in 2007. Now, the Hilton has agreed to cough up $115,000.
The Commission's Dan Heneghan says the only bigger underage fine "was $157,500, paid by Bally's last year."
The youth, identified only by his initials "M. R." filled out an application in January 2007 for a Player's Club membership, according to Heneghan.
He says no one appears to have checked his claim to being older than 21.
And even after he was arrested at another casino on an underage charge in February 2008, "M.R." Was allowed to gamble at both slot machines and a poker table in the Hilton two months later, according to the complaint.
An investigator with the Division of Gaming Enforcement even found the Hilton gave the then 20-year-old a complimentary room at the hotel. And in what may have been a really expensive roll of the dice, the complaint says "M.R." Was gambling even "after the Casino was notified he was underage."
In addition to the hefty fine, Heneghan says the entire surveillance department at the Hilton has had refresher training, the security department was told to be more vigilant and the table games department got a not-so-friendly reminder that a player's card is not an acceptable form of identification.
The Hilton has not returned a call for comment.
