Pioneering Project 21®
One Sunday afternoon in 1989, a security guard at Harrah's Atlantic City encountered an angry mother whose 14-year-old son had checked into the casino's hotel, ordered four beers from room service and proceeded to play table games in the casino undetected. The boy called his mother later from his hotel room complaining of illness and asking for a ride home, which prompted her outrage–and sparked an industrywide campaign to prevent underage gambling.
Motivated by a concern that similar situations could occur in the future, employees representing all casino departments-casino floor, hotel, food and beverage, and security-met to discuss ways to approach underage gambling. Out of these meetings came the idea of developing an in-house advocacy and prevention program centered on youth. These pro-active steps taken at Harrah's Atlantic City caught the attention of Phil Satre, Harrah's then-president and chief executive officer (and current chairman), who gave the program his full backing. Recognizing the program's potential breadth and importance, Satre insisted it have a name, and Project 21 was born.
"When I heard about the program, I knew Harrah's and the industry were on the edge of a new frontier of responsible gaming awareness," Satre said. "It isn't enough to just say 'no one under 21 is allowed in our casinos.' We have to take steps to prevent that from occurring and keep educating our employees, our customers as well as young people about the consequences of underage gambling."
The Project 21 program's in-house prevention effort centered on three basic awareness principles. First, all casino employees-from dealers to housekeeping-must be vigilant of underage gambling, addressing the situation and alerting the proper authorities if a minor evades security. The second principle involves educating the public about the legal age to gamble, stressing that while the legal age for some forms of gambling is 18, you must be 21 to gamble at a casino. Lastly, the Project 21 program emphasizes-especially with casino employees-the consequences of underage gambling, including license revocation.
During its nascent years, Harrah's circulated the Project 21 program's main message of youth gambling prevention to casino customers and employees using materials such as posters and brochures and through employee training. Now, the Project 21 program utilizes various methods to communicate its message, including seminars, employee training sessions, paycheck stuffers, meetings, internal publications and a back-of-the-house advertising campaign.
While this in-house approach reached two key audiences, it didn't reach the general public, specifically adolescents. Soon after the program's inception, Harrah's executives were asking: "How do we educate children and the people in our community?" They found the answer at their local schools. By integrating the program into schools through a scholarship program, Harrah's could directly reach the young people Project 21 was geared to protect.
The Project 21 Scholarship Program engages high school students in a competition for college scholarships with a focus on underage gambling prevention and community education. To compete, students submit original essays, posters or public service announcements, and display or distribute their work throughout the school, dovetailing with the aim of Project 21 to increase awareness throughout the community. Participating casinos award students scholarships of up to $2,500.
Project 21 was so successful that it was replicated not only companywide at Harrah's properties but also industrywide. In 1995, Harrah's began licensing Project 21 to state gaming associations as well as casinos in both the United States and Canada. Today, casino properties in 14 states, including nine of the 11 commercial casino states, participate in some form of the Project 21 program.
"I'm proud of the impact of Project 21 in helping increase awareness of underage gambling," Satre said. "It's made a big difference not only for our company and our industry, but also for countless young people."
