The Express-Times – Slipping into the casino to gamble while underage might seem a harmless adventure, but it’s likely you won’t walk away with any big winnings, Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board spokesman Doug Harbach says.
An underage visitor might instead be walking away with a criminal record.
That could be the fate awaiting Rong Lin, 20, of Fresh Meadows, N.Y., after police determined Wednesday evening he had a fake ID after he’d won a jackpot at a Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem slot machine.
Police and gaming officials say they don’t know the precise size of the jackpot which ended up giving away Lin’s actual age.
Harbach said winners who hit a jackpot of $1,300 or more are approached by Sands workers because of tax issues that accompany the size of the prize. Smaller jackpots can be turned in at the cashier’s window. It wasn’t clear how Lin tried to get his winnings, but either way requires the winner to provide some identification, according to Harbach.
This, he said, is often how the casino identifies not just people with a false identification but those who have been banned — voluntarily or otherwise — from the gaming establishment.
“We say all the time, casinos have got to be the worst place to go to commit a crime,” Harbach said. “It’s just not a risk people should be taking.”
