An underage girl from Hong Kong was paid almost $100,000 by a Macau casino that was ordered to pay her the money for winning a slot machine jackpot even though she is a minor and legally is not allowed to gamble.
The 16-year-old girl received about $12 to play the slots from her grandmother as a New Year's present. She put it all in one slot machine and won the jackpot. However, The Sands Casino had refused to pay the girl because she was underage.
The Macau Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau intervened and ordered The Sands to pay the jackpot, but to the girl's mother and not to the girl herself. The bureau justified this decision by saying that while there is a minimum age for entering a casino, there is not a minimum age for gambling in one.
The gaming bureau is drafting amendments to the laws in order to clarify the rules and close the loophole. The girl's mother and grandmother were in the casino, as well. The gaming bureau barred the mother from Macau's casinos for bringing a minor into a casino.
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