Minor hits the jackpot on Slots

Filed in archive Casinos on February 26, 2007

As reported by the UK Guardian: "When a Hong Kong teenager walked into a casino in the Chinese territory of Macau, chaperoned by her mother and grandmother, she can have had little idea of the riches that awaited her - nor of the legal storm that her winnings would generate.

"The 16-year-old girl, who has not been named, had HK$100 (about £6) to play with, given to her by her grandmother as a Lunar new year's gift. A few moments and one slot machine later the pocket money had been transformed into £51,000, local media reported.

"The casino, which is run by US gaming giant Las Vegas Sands, at first tried to wriggle out of paying the winnings, arguing that as the girl was 16 she was underage and therefore not supposed to be in the casino in the first place.

"But Macau's gaming watchdog forced the casino to pay up after ruling that gaming regulations only specified a minimum age for entering a casino and not for gambling once inside..."