PA Gaming Control Board Levies $147,500 In Fines

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

HARRISBURG, PA (April 26, 2023) — 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 at three casinos. The total fines levied were $147,500.

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

• Mount Airy #1, LLC, operator of Mount Airy Casino Resort in Monroe County was fined $120,000 for failure to timely submit internal audit plans, a stipulation of its Statement of Conditions for licensure;
• Downs Racing, L.P., operator of Mohegan Pennsylvania casino in Luzerne County received a fine of $20,000 for two incidents in which supervisory employees worked without the proper Board-issued permit; and,
• Sugarhouse HSP Gaming, L.P., operator of Rivers Casino Philadelphia, a $7,500 fine for not properly notifying its security and surveillance staff along with law enforcement about an alleged cheating incident at a table game involving marked cards.

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 to ban 3 adults from all casinos in the Commonwealth for leaving a total of six children unattended in order to engage in gaming activities:

• A male patron was placed on the Involuntary Exclusion List after leaving three children, ages 3-, 8-, and 10 years old unattended in a vehicle in the Mohegan Pennsylvania casino parking lot while he wagered at the sportsbook;
• A female patron was placed on the Involuntary Exclusion List after leaving two children, ages 2- and 5 years old unattended in the food court at Valley Forge Casino Resort in order to wager at the sportsbook, and later once again left the children unattended in a vehicle in the casino’s parking lot but was approached by security before she was able to gamble; and,
• A female patron was placed on the Involuntary Exclusion List after leaving her 13-year-old child unattended in a vehicle at Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course while she cashed a check and gambled on slot machines.

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 March 2023 it has identified 344 incidents of adults leaving children unattended to gamble at Pennsylvania casinos involving 568 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, May 24, 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 racetrack (Category 1) casinos, five stand-alone (Category 2) casinos, two resort (Category 3) casinos and four mini-casinos (Category 4).  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.