New rules have been approved by the South Dakota Gaming Commission, providing casinos with more regulations regarding underage individuals accessing gaming properties. Now, casinos will have to display signage at the entrances as well as on the gambling machines regarding age limits. Anyone under the age of 21 is no longer allowed to loiter on the gaming floor or be allowed to stand near a machine or gaming table.
The commission introduced these new rules this week, and they will now be reviewed by the Interim Rules Review Committee next week. If the rules are approved, they will be in effect on the 29th of this month. The changes come at a time when the Cadillac Jack casino was fined $75,000 for three incidents from last year involving underage gamblers.
Regarding the rules, Roger Tellinghuisen, an attorney for the Deadwood Gaming Association, asked the commission to clarify if a sticker could be created that was uniform in nature to place on each machine that would detail the 21 and older rule. The commission will consider this idea, including the size of the sticker as well as wording.
The commission was also asked about loitering and how it would be defined. Families often travel through the casino to reach other areas with their children. Will they be allowed to stop and gamble or will this no longer be an option? According to the new rules, it seems the casino just doesn’t want to be a babysitter for children. Parents will more than likely be allowed to gamble but kids do not need to be on the gaming floor long-term.
It could be assumed that these rules will be approved as they will hopefully be helpful in deterring incidents of underage gambling from happening again. But, only time will tell if the regulations will actually do any good and stop such incidents from occurring.
