New law will penalize underage gamblers

Cardroom dealers can be hit with $300 fines for allowing minors to gamble, but currently there are no penalties for the juveniles themselves.

That will change on July 26 when a new law takes effect making underage gambling a civil infraction.

Minors younger than 18 who gamble could be fined $125, required to perform four hours of community service and forfeit their winnings.

The Washington State Gambling Commission, which begins two days of meeting in Vancouver today, is scheduled to review a proposed rule offering guidance for cardrooms that want to police themselves and make sure their dealers and other employees are checking for identification.

The five-member commission, whose members are appointed by the governor, acts as the gambling watchdog in Washington. It was created in 1973 after a series of gambling scandals.

The commission will meet at 1:30 p.m. today and at 9 a.m. Friday at the Heathman Lodge, 7801 N.E. Greenwood Drive. Public testimony is accepted at the end of each session.

A specific agenda can be found on the commission’s Web site at: www.wsgc.wa.gov.

Most agenda items regard hyper-technical aspects of gambling regulation in Washington.

La Center is home to four of the state’s eight top-grossing cardrooms: Last Frontier (No. 1), New Phoenix (No. 2), Palace (No. 5) and Chips Casino (No. 8), based on the last full year of data available on the gambling commission’s Web site.

If a cardroom receives a second violation for allowing underage gambling within a year, it can face more serious penalties than a $200 to $300 fine, including suspension of its gambling license.

Beginning in 2004, the gambling commission launched sting operations using minors to determine if cardrooms were allowing underage gambling. The agency often works in tandem with the Washington State Liquor Control Board to see if undercover operatives could purchase alcohol.

In that first year, the gambling commission conducted 16 "inspections," with only 44 percent of cardrooms passing.

The number of inspections has increased every year, and so has the percentage of cardrooms found to be checking for identification.

Last year, the gambling commission conducted 105 inspections and found a 78 percent compliance rate.