# Why did the casino demand my ID (everyone's ID) when entering? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 15, 2023, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-casino-demand-my-id-everyones-id-when-entering/991583 "2023-10-15T00:10:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-casino-demand-my-id-everyones-id-when-entering/991583/81 "2023-10-20T11:35:15Z")
Our stores absolutely enforce a card EVERYONE policy. If no ID is scanned, a manager can override if we take your picture with our security camera and keep it for 90 days. If you look under 30, forget it. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-casino-demand-my-id-everyones-id-when-entering/991583/82 "2023-10-20T13:14:09Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Do you have a cite for this rarity? I’m 65 and have been refused beer at a grocery store when I didn’t have my driver’s license on me. When I buy beer at Giant Eagle there’s often an obviously old person who refuses to have their license scanned and they are denied sale. > > But you know this is rare? I’m not @DrDeth. But IMO / IME he’s sometimes prone to short comebacks where without the full context folks can take it other than as meant. But I believe that @spifflog was saying in effect that carding everyone is an excuse for the staff at casinos to exclude riffraff and discriminate racially on false pretenses of invalid ID. In that context, you talking about PA liquor laws led @DrDeth to say that somebody in PA presenting valid ID and then being turned away anyhow would be rare. It’s hardly surprising that in a state with 100% ID-required enforcement, that stores actually do that. No ID, no service is unsurprising and common. With ID but still no service is (assumedly) rare. At least that’s how I took what he was saying. Your, and his, MMV. ---
**Author:** ![spifflog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@spifflog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spifflog)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-casino-demand-my-id-everyones-id-when-entering/991583/83 "2023-10-20T13:24:23Z")
The sign stated something along the lines of “we reserve the right to request multiple forms of identification.” Our party sailed in with one ID. There were two other groups, one black guy, and three biker types who were asked for multiple IDs. I have no idea if there was truly an issue with the first ID provided, but the casino was digging in on them. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-casino-demand-my-id-everyones-id-when-entering/991583/84 "2023-10-20T13:57:27Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > But I believe that @spifflog was saying in effect that carding everyone is an excuse for the staff at casinos to exclude riffraff and discriminate racially on false pretenses of invalid ID. Or deciding that a passport , a green card , out of state driver’s licenses/non-driver ID , military ID and so on is not acceptable - even when the law allows it. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-casino-demand-my-id-everyones-id-when-entering/991583/85 "2023-10-20T14:21:35Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > even when the law allows it. The law (in Pennsylvania) allows a store to accept a passport, but the store doesn’t have a scanner to check if the passport is good, nor does the store employ people trained in ensuring the passport isn’t the person’s older sister. And yet, if the person is underage and they sell alcohol to the person, they are breaking the law and could be fined or have their liquor license revoked. The safest thing for the store is to accept only a PA driver’s license for which they have a scanner that can communicate with the DMV. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-casino-demand-my-id-everyones-id-when-entering/991583/86 "2023-10-20T14:32:23Z")
California was pretty much anything goes up until I was 20. I had no problem getting booze at most liquor stores when I was 18 and 19. Right after I turned 20 the law changed and the clerk and store owner faced major liability for selling to a minor and I couldn’t buy alcohol to save my life. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-casino-demand-my-id-everyones-id-when-entering/991583/87 "2023-10-20T14:38:45Z")
I was 19 in Iowa when they moved to 21 as legal age to buy booze. But, I was grandfathered in so I was still legal to buy booze. I was unsure if it really worked but I was in a college bar when the police came in and said anyone under 21 had better leave because they were going to check any who stayed. I stayed, they checked and I was fine (not arrested). ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-casino-demand-my-id-everyones-id-when-entering/991583/88 "2023-10-20T14:43:06Z")
It was that same year that CA got tough. CA was already 21 at the time. Some states grandfathered people in and others changed strictly to 21. My 20 year old roommate and I did a road trip from San Diego to Dallas from late December to a couple of days after New Year’s Eve. He could buy beer on the way there in (I think) NM but not on the way back. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-casino-demand-my-id-everyones-id-when-entering/991583/89 "2023-10-20T14:55:17Z")
When I was 17, there were plenty of bars that catered to the underage crowd. I was at a bar where there wasn’t a single person of legal age. There were maybe 30 of us. In walked an adult wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase. We all knew it had to be the Liquor Control Board and we would all be going to jail. Everyone casually headed to the men’s bathroom where we knew there was a window. One by one we squeezed out, got our cars, and drove off. We later found out that the adult with the briefcase was a contractor coming to get a contract signed for a remodeling the bar was going to have done. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-casino-demand-my-id-everyones-id-when-entering/991583/90 "2023-10-20T14:59:34Z")
Sorry , I wasn’t clear enough. I meant that those could be used as an excuse to keep certain types of people out. After all, the person behind me can’t necessarily tell if the card I am showing is the same one that is being refused when he tries to use it. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-casino-demand-my-id-everyones-id-when-entering/991583/91 "2023-10-20T19:21:16Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > I was 19 in Iowa when they moved to 21 as legal age to buy booze. But, I was grandfathered in so I was still legal to buy booze. I was unsure if it really worked but I was in a college bar when the police came in and said anyone under 21 had better leave because they were going to check any who stayed. I stayed, they checked and I was fine (not arrested). My brother turned 18 back when drivers’ licenses and such were computer printout on a preprinted form. However, we both suffered from slow development, so he looked 15. It was simpler for him to lend his ID to a friend who was 15 but a gangly 6’2" and looked over 18. They never had a problem getting liquor. (I was always the second-shortest guy in my class by a significant amount in high school - surprised at my first reunion to find I was about the same height as everyone else). ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-casino-demand-my-id-everyones-id-when-entering/991583/92 "2023-10-20T19:30:16Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Do you have a cite for this rarity? I’m 65 and have been refused beer at a grocery store when I didn’t have my driver’s license on me. I meant it is rare for someone who is of legal age, and has presented ID to prove it- to be denied entry. Context. > [@LSLGuy](#): > > In that context, you talking about PA liquor laws led @DrDeth to say that somebody in PA presenting valid ID and then being turned away anyhow would be rare. Correct. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2023, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-casino-demand-my-id-everyones-id-when-entering/991583/93 "2023-10-22T07:51:10Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > … to understand the range of arrangements in our 50-state cacophony. > … > The idea of a government-run store to sell alcohol and only alcohol is just weird. I’ve lived in 6 states and I’ve never managed to have to live in one _that_ backward. Even more difference: in some Midwest states, it varies by county. We have: - dry counties (no liquor sales), \* - wet counties (normal liquor licensed businesses), and in-between - government counties (where the only liquor sales are in a government-run liquor store.) But some of them sell other things, like snacks, soda pop, basic groceries like milk, bread, etc. Sometimes kept in a separate room, but attached to the liquor store. Really a lot of variation in the USA. - and yes, a lot of those ‘dry’ counties have a liquor store located just across the county line into the next (‘wet’) county. Often named “County Line Liquors”. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2023, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-casino-demand-my-id-everyones-id-when-entering/991583/94 "2023-10-22T14:18:00Z")
Some areas of Alaska prohibit simple possession of alcohol, too. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2023, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-casino-demand-my-id-everyones-id-when-entering/991583/95 "2023-10-22T19:55:01Z")
I get carded every time I buy, and either they tell me it’s for the cameras-- the employees say their bosses spot-check that they are asking for IDs, and the cameras aren’t hi-res enough to show that someone was clearly over 50-- or they have to scan my ID at the check-out in order to lower the flag for alcohol. I once got flagged for buying rubber cement, or something, and they scanned my ID, and then bought something else, and they had to scan my ID again. The cashier explained that it was because the first item required over 18, but the second was over 21. If she’d scanned the over-21 item first, the flag for the over-18 would not have popped up. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2023, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-casino-demand-my-id-everyones-id-when-entering/991583/96 "2023-11-05T20:15:21Z")
That’s funny! May I ask what time of day this suited, briefcase-wielding contractor came in? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2023, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-casino-demand-my-id-everyones-id-when-entering/991583/97 "2023-11-06T03:43:48Z")
It was after school in the winter but still light, probably 4 pm. Good times. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2023, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-casino-demand-my-id-everyones-id-when-entering/991583/98 "2023-11-06T22:41:30Z")
When I was in my late teens, in the early 1980s, I worked at a Target that was across the big parking lot from a restaurant that had a bar that didn’t card - until a cocktail waitress who also worked as a substitute teacher recognized some boys who came in after Target closed, and vice versa. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-casino-demand-my-id-everyones-id-when-entering/991583.md?page=4)