Cherokee Casino raises the gambling age to 21

Oklahoma's largest gaming operation is making a bold move. Beginning Wednesday, the <b><a class="headlinelink" href="http://www.kotv.com/main/home/searchKOTV.asp?mainSearch=Cherokee Nation">Cherokee

Wednesday, June 1st 2005, 1:17 pm

By: News On 6

Oklahoma's largest gaming operation is making a bold move. Beginning Wednesday, the Cherokee Nation raised its gambling age limit, turning away anyone under the age of 21.

News on 6 anchor Tami Marler explains what prompted the tribe's decision.

During the day, most of the patrons at Cherokee Casino Resort are more mature adults. Theyâ€™re taking a break from work, spending a little time and money. But once school lets out, sometimes the crowd gets a little younger. Security workers like David Bohlin are ready to make sure the patrons aren't too young. "Need to check your ID."

Young people are still welcome at the Cherokee Resort, just not inside the casino, where the Cherokee Nation has just passed new age guidelines. "There are a lot of family amenities at Cherokee Casino Resort. We have a hotel, we have great restaurants. You can come and bring your kids, you just have to have a parent that's over 21 when you bring your kids, and that's fine, and we want to encourage that." Mike Miller says Cherokee Nation Enterprises found only about 3 percent of its clientele were between the ages of 18 and 21, so the board of directors recently voted to go along with the majority of the gaming industry. â€œWe've looked at the industry standard, 21 and over for gaming and that's what we've done."

Right now, it's perfectly legal for anyone over 18 to gamble in Oklahoma's growing number of casinos, but the state's largest operation is starting the bets off at 21.

Mike Miller says part of the reason Cherokee Nation Enterprises decided to raise the gambling age limit, is that the casino serves alcohol and it's easier to know their patrons are of legal drinking age if they're all over 21.