The minimum gambling age is 21 at the three Seneca casinos and 18 at the. Are two nearby Canadian casinos just across the border in Niagara Falls, Ontario.
See the article in its original context from
October 10, 1993,Section 1, Page38Buy Reprints
October 10, 1993,Section 1, Page38Buy Reprints
TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers.
This is a digitized version of an article from The Times’s print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them.
Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems. Please send reports of such problems [email protected].
When the Oneida Indians opened the Turning Stone casino here in July, it was heralded as the first legal casino in New York State since the 1870's. Few noticed that Turning Stone was also the only casino on the Eastern Seaboard where teen-agers can place bets.
The minimum age for casino gambling in most places, including Atlantic City and the Foxwoods casino in Ledyard, Conn., is 21. At Turning Stone, it is 18. As a result, the casino, 35 miles east of Syracuse, is quickly catching on with students from two dozen nearby colleges.
'I think a lot of business will come from students -- just look at a map, and think about all that cash they're supposed to spend on food and books and stuff,' said Scott Orr, 20, a Syracuse University junior who last month was on his third trip to the casino in two weeks. 'This place is going to be a gold mine, and my prediction is it's going to branch and grow.' To Drink or to Gamble?
Referring to the region's isolation and harsh weather, Richard Collins, a sophomore studying psychology at Hartwick College in Oneonta, said, 'It's either drink in the field or drink in the bar or come here, and this is the new opportunity.' He predicted that the casino would become even more attractive to college students as winter weather sets in.
Some experts on compulsive gambling question the decision to allow 18-year-olds to gamble, fearing that some young people may be unable to handle it responsibly. College officials in the area are unenthusiastic about the idea, although they have not taken a formal stance on the issue.
But students, state officials and tribe members point out that 18-, 19- and 20-year-olds are already allowed by law to buy lottery tickets and place bets at racetracks and 'Las Vegas nights' -- not to mention vote and serve in the military.
Ray Halbritter, 43, the Oneidas' elected leader, said, 'It has been the nation's view that if a person of 18 is eligible to go to war, that person ought to be able to judge whether to make a $5 wager.' The maximum single bet at Turning Stone, regardless of age, is $2,000; there is no limit to a player's total losses.
Thomas Conroy, a spokesman for Gov. Mario M. Cuomo, said, 'Both sides concluded that 18 was the logical age.' 'We'd Come Anyway'
Carey Farbstein, a 19-year-old sophomore at Colgate University in Hamilton, said she thought the casino was saving itself a lot of trouble by setting 18 as the minimum age.
'If they didn't,' she said, 'we'd just use fake I.D.'s and come anyway.' In fact, more than a dozen 18-, 19- and 20-year-olds visiting the casino on a Friday night said they had previously gambled at casinos where the minimum legal age was 21.
The Oneidas do not have to worry about one problem that might come with allowing teen-agers to gamble: under-age drinking. The casino does not serve liquor because of the tribe's concerns about alcoholism among Indians. In Atlantic City, the minimum gambling age was 18 until 1983, when both the drinking and gambling age were raised to 21.
Although New York State does not generally allow casinos, the Oneidas were permitted to open Turning Stone under a 1988 Federal law giving sovereign Indian nations the right to operate casinos for profit. Under that law, Indians can run the same games of chance that the state allows charities to run in 'Las Vegas nights.'
While most of the casino's 7,000 weekday and 11,000 weekend visitors are long past their college years, the casino's accessibility to people too young to drink alcohol legally has some gambling experts concerned.
'These kids are betting on sports, they're buying lottery tickets,' said Arnie Wexler, a self-described retired compulsive gambler and the executive director of the Council on Compulsive Gambling, a private, nonprofit group. 'But when you open up casinos, you make it legally and socially acceptable and more kids are going to try it.'
Like the Mashantucket Pequots, who operate the highly profitable Foxwoods casino in Connecticut, the Oneidas are discovering that the casino business can yield extraordinary profits. Turning Stone was built to accommodate up to 5,000 players a day, a figure that now represents a slow day at the shimmering green glass complex that is quickly emerging as the largest employer in a two-county area. Colleges Are Tolerant
With business substantially exceeding expectations, Indian officials said they planned to expand the casino complex with a hotel and stores. The casino opened in July, but is holding its formal grand opening this week.
Officials from colleges in the area said they did not plan to take a formal stance on students going to the casino. 'I would hope that if students have money to invest, they would invest it in computers and calculators and books to further their education,' said Robert Hill, vice president for public relations at Syracuse University. But, he added, 'in the final analysis, those of legal age are free to do with their disposable income as they please.'
Students said that attitude was fine with them.
'Students have a lot of discretionary income, and if they want to go up and lose it at the Turning Stone, that's something their parents can maybe take up with them, but they've got to know that they're going to lose,' said Stephen Klinge, a 21-year-old senior at Cornell University who said he often visits the casino with friends from the Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity.
Jason Dewey, 19, a student at the State University of New York at Morrisville, summed it up this way: 'Have a good time, spend a little money. You've just got to know when to walk away.'