PA Gaming Control Board Levies $60,000 In Fines Related To iGaming

Board also places two adults on the exclusion list for gambling at casinos while leaving children unattended

HARRISBURG, PA: The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (“Board”) approved three consent agreements today presented by the Board’s Office of Enforcement Counsel (“OEC”) during its public meeting regarding violations that occurred in iGaming. The total fines levied was $60,000.

The approved consent agreements were the result of negotiations between OEC and:

• Mountainview Thoroughbred Racing Association, LLC, operator of Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course, was fined $45,000 for allowing five individuals who were enrolled in the Board’s iGaming Self-Exclusion program to conduct gaming activity on its online Barstool Sportsbook. An interactive gaming certificate must refuse wagers from and deny gaming privileges and benefits to an individual who has placed themself on the iGaming Self-Exclusion List;
• Downs Racing, L.P., operator of Mohegan Pennsylvania casino, and its iGaming partner Unibet Interactive, Inc., were jointly ordered to pay a fine of $7,500 for failure to suspend an interactive gaming account for an individual who had utilized one of the offered compulsive gambling tools and requested a temporary suspension of online gaming activities. In this instance, the individual requested a 90-day “cool off” period but the request went unacknowledged by the operator and the individual continued substantial gaming activity for 21 more days; and,
• Evolution US, LLC, holder of an iGaming Manufacturer License, was fined $7,500 for an unlicensed employee dealing with several games of blackjack in its gaming studio for live dealer interactive gaming.

Copies of the approved consent agreements offering more details on these matters are available upon request through the Board’s Office of Communications.

The Board also acted on petitions by OEC to ban 2 adults from all casinos in the Commonwealth for leaving children unattended in order to engage in gaming activities:

• A male patron was placed on the Involuntary Exclusion List after leaving a 12-year-old unattended in a running vehicle in the Presque Isle Downs & Casino parking lot while he wagered at the sportsbook; and,
• A female patron was placed on the Involuntary Exclusion List after leaving a 14-month-old unattended in a running vehicle in the Valley Forge Casino and Resort parking lot while she wagered at the sportsbook.

The Board’s actions serve as a reminder that adults are prohibited from leaving minors unattended in the parking lot or garage, a hotel, or other venues at a casino since it creates a potentially unsafe and dangerous environment for the children.  Leaving minors unattended at a Pennsylvania casino also subjects the offending adult to criminal prosecution in addition to exclusion from all Pennsylvania casinos. The Board is reporting that since the start of 2022 through February 2023 it has identified 331 incidents of adults leaving children unattended to gamble at Pennsylvania casinos involving 522 minors.

For more information on this issue and to assist in bringing awareness of this problem, you can visit the Board’s special “Don’t Gamble with Kids” campaign website at this link.

The next meeting of the Board is scheduled for 10:00 a.m., Wednesday, April 26, 2023 in the Board’s Public Hearing Room located on the second floor of the Strawberry Square Complex in Harrisburg.

About the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board is tasked to oversee all aspects of gambling involving 17 land-based casinos, online casino games, retail and online sports wagering, and Video Gaming Terminals (VGTs) at qualified truck stops, along with the regulation of online fantasy sports contests.

The land-based casino industry in Pennsylvania consists of six racetracks (Category 1) casinos, five stand-alone (Category 2) casinos, two resort (Category 3) casinos and four mini-casinos (Category 4).  Casino expansion will continue over the next couple of years with the anticipated opening of an additional Category 4 casino. A significant job generator in the Commonwealth, casinos and the other types of Board-regulated gaming generated over $2 billion in tax revenue in 2022.

Additional information about both the PGCB’s gaming regulatory efforts and Pennsylvania’s gaming industry can be found at gamingcontrolboard.pa.gov. You can also follow the agency on Twitter by choosing @PAGamingControl.

SOURCE: Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.