ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

DAVID DISHNEAU

CHICAGO (AP)—The Illinois Gaming Board will seek detailed information from riverboat casino operators on their efforts to prevent underage gambling and drinking aboard their vessels, the panel’s chairman said Thursday.

The move follows an investigation by a Chicago citizens group that found 19-year-olds were allowed to board casino boats in Aurora and Joliet on all seven of their attempts.

Illinois law prohibits gambling and drinking by those under 21. It is not illegal for minors to board a riverboat casino, but because most of the boats are devoted almost entirely to gambling, most operators said they prohibit minors from boarding.

Casino operators reported widely varying enforcement results in testimony before the gaming board Thursday. Of two Chicago-area operators, one turned away about 15 times as many minors or suspected minors than the other during approximately the same period.

‘‘I do think we need some kind of reporting to find out what’s going on,’‘ gaming board Chairman J. Thomas Johnson said.

He directed the board’s staff to suggest procedures for casino operators to report their effectiveness in identifying and rejecting minors.

The Better Government Association, a private watchdog group that opposes casino gambling, reported Oct. 20 that 19-year-olds working for the group last summer were allowed to board the Hollywood Casino boat in Aurora five times and permitted aboard the Empress River Casino in Joliet twice.

On Oct. 26, the gaming board asked all of the state’s nine operating casino companies to prepare reports on their underage enforcement measures. They presented those reports on Thursday.

The reports did not follow any particular format, so it was impossible to compare the results from all nine. However, the three Chicago-area operators all provided information on the number of people turned away over approximately the same time period because they were underage or had no proof of age.

Hollywood Casino Aurora Inc. said it turned away 308 and admitted about 200,000 from Oct. 22 through Nov. 30. The Empress River Casino Corp. said it turned away 20 and admitted 192,000 from Oct. 26 through Nov. 30. Harrah’s Joliet reported 192 turned away and 145,000 admitted during November.

Despite the relatively low number of turnaways at Empress, President Kevin D. Larson said he believed his security staff was diligent. Nonetheless, ‘‘it does raise a question I feel needs to be addressed,’‘ he said in an interview.

He said the Empress had seen few repeat offenders in its nearly 18 months of operation. He suggested that minors turned away from his casino might have gone to Hollywood or Harrah’s, both of which opened fewer than seven months ago.

State to gather information on underage riverboat gambling

ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

CHICAGO (AP)—The Illinois Gaming Board will seek detailed information from riverboat casino operators on their efforts to prevent underage gambling and drinking aboard their vessels, the panel’s chairman said Thursday.

The move follows an investigation by a Chicago citizens group that found 19-year-olds were allowed to board casino boats in Aurora and Joliet on all seven of their attempts.

Illinois law prohibits gambling and drinking by those under 21. It is not illegal for minors to board a riverboat casino, but because most of the boats are devoted almost entirely to gambling, most operators said they prohibit minors from boarding.

Casino operators reported widely varying enforcement results in testimony before the gaming board Thursday. Of two Chicago-area operators, one turned away about 15 times as many minors or suspected minors than the other during approximately the same period.

‘‘I do think we need some kind of reporting to find out what’s going on,’‘ gaming board Chairman J. Thomas Johnson said.

He directed the board’s staff to suggest procedures for casino operators to report their effectiveness in identifying and rejecting minors.

The Better Government Association, a private watchdog group that opposes casino gambling, reported Oct. 20 that 19-year-olds working for the group last summer were allowed to board the Hollywood Casino boat in Aurora five times and permitted aboard the Empress River Casino in Joliet twice.

On Oct. 26, the gaming board asked all of the state’s nine operating casino companies to prepare reports on their underage enforcement measures. They presented those reports on Thursday.

The reports did not follow any particular format, so it was impossible to compare the results from all nine. However, the three Chicago-area operators all provided information on the number of people turned away over approximately the same time period because they were underage or had no proof of age.

Hollywood Casino Aurora Inc. said it turned away 308 and admitted about 200,000 from Oct. 22 through Nov. 30. The Empress River Casino Corp. said it turned away 20 and admitted 192,000 from Oct. 26 through Nov. 30. Harrah’s Joliet reported 192 turned away and 145,000 admitted during November.

Despite the relatively low number of turnaways at Empress, President Kevin D. Larson said he believed his security staff was diligent. Nonetheless, ‘‘it does raise a question I feel needs to be addressed,’‘ he said in an interview.

He said the Empress had seen few repeat offenders in its nearly 18 months of operation. He suggested that minors turned away from his casino might have gone to Hollywood or Harrah’s, both of which opened fewer than seven months ago.