Regulation

Casinos Fined After 16-Year-Old Gets Rewards Card and Served Alcohol While Gambling

Posted on: August 20, 2026, 10:50h.

Last updated on: August 20, 2026, 10:51h.

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Devin O'Connor Devin O'Connor is a senior reporter for Casino.org, covering politics, casino business, and gaming news. Devin came on board with Casino.org in 2014...
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Key Points

Crown Sydney was fined A$1.75 million after allowing a 16-year-old to enter and gamble at the casino at least 19 times
The teenager obtained Silver Tier status in Crown Rewards and was served complimentary alcohol
The Star Sydney was fined A$500,000 after the teen gambled at the casino on at least three occasions

Two casino resorts have been fined after they acknowledged allowing a 16-year-old boy to gamble, enroll as a rewards member, and consume alcohol.

Crown Sydney casinos fined underage teen — The Crown Resorts logo is pictured on the exterior of Crown Sydney in New South Wales. Crown Sydney allowed a 16-year-old boy to gamble at least 19 times, while registering for rewards and being served alcohol. (Image: Shutterstock)

The New South Wales (NSW) Independent Casino Commission (NICC) reported on Wednesday (Aug. 19) that Crown Sydney had been fined A$1.75 million (US$1.25 million) for allowing a minor to enter the casino and gamble on at least 19 separate occasions.

During his many gambling trips, the teenager managed to obtain Silver Tier status in the Crown Rewards program, which requires 10,000 casino points. The boy was also served complimentary alcohol.

The NICC said the minor made at least three trips to The Star Sydney, where he also managed to gamble. The Star Sydney was fined A$500,000.

The NICC acknowledges that both casinos have accepted responsibility for the significant failures in their identity verification and customer onboarding processes which have allowed this minor to enter their venues repeatedly and over a significant period of time,” said NICC Chief Commissioner Philip Crawford.

The minor reportedly bypassed security by using a fake identification.

Crown Self-Reported Breaches

Australia’s duopoly casino industry, controlled by Crown Resorts and Star Entertainment, continues to take remedial steps to improve the public’s perception of their operations. Several government inquiries in recent years resulted in more than A$100 million in fines against the casinos on findings that they failed to protect their properties from being used by criminal organizations to launder money and had gross shortcomings in protecting against problem gambling.

Crown Sydney said it self-reported the minor’s access after the casino determined that a fraudulent identification had been used.

“Crown Sydney takes its obligations in relation to minors and the use of false identification extremely seriously. We notified the regulator after becoming aware the individual was underage and have co-operated with its investigation,” a spokesperson for the casino told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

The NICC said effective identity verification is key to not only protecting casinos from minors but also for blocking criminal activity.

“The breakdown in safeguards that allowed a vulnerable young person to repeatedly access casino gaming areas and suffer actual harm is unacceptable,” said Dimitri Argeres, the executive director of regulatory operations at Liquor and Gaming NSW.

The NICC said effective identity verification is essential not only for preventing minors from accessing casinos but also for detecting and preventing criminal activity.

Crown Silver Tier Membership

It isn’t exactly clear how much the minor gambled at Crown Sydney to reach the casino’s Silver Tier rewards level. Silver is only one level above the basic Member Tier that’s provided to new enrollees. Crown Rewards has five tiers, ranging from Member to Black.

Crown Sydney does not have slot machines but only table games. Crown Sydney says casino points are earned on table games based on the game, average bet, and time played.