PA Gaming Control Board Levies $100,350 in Fines

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

HARRISBURG, PA (May 24, 2023) – The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (“Board”) approved two consent agreements today presented by the Board’s Office of Enforcement Counsel (“OEC”) during its public meeting regarding violations that occurred with a casino and gaming manufacturer licensee. The total fines levied were $100,350.

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

• Mountainview Thoroughbred Racing Association, LLC, operator of Hollywood Casino York, a $78,000 fine for failure to meet minimum security staffing requirements; and,
• TCS John Huxley America, Inc. and TCS John Huxley Europe, Ltd, a licensed Table Game Manufacturer, a $22,350 fine for failure to file Principal Licensing applications.

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 filed by OEC to ban five adults from all casinos in the Commonwealth for leaving a total of nine children unattended in order to engage in gaming activities:

• A male and female patron was placed on the Involuntary Exclusion List after leaving five children, ages 2, 4, 5, 11 and 13, unattended in a vehicle in the Presque Isle Downs Casino & Racetrack parking lot for 35 minutes while they gambled on slot machines;
• A male patron was placed on the Involuntary Exclusion List after leaving an 11-year-old child unattended in a vehicle in the parking garage of the Live! Casino and Hotel Philadelphia for 30 minutes while he gambled in the sportsbook;

• A male patron was placed on the Involuntary Exclusion List after leaving a 10-year-old child unattended in a vehicle that he parked along a construction fence outside the valet area of the Rivers Casino Pittsburgh for 5 minutes while he gambled in the sportsbook; and,

• A female patron was placed on the Involuntary Exclusion List after leaving two children, ages 8 and 9, unattended in a vehicle in the Mohegan Pennsylvania parking lot for 45 minutes while she gambled on slot machines.

In addition to these new placements on the Involuntary Exclusion List, the Board also denied a petition by a female patron to be removed from the list. The individual had left her 8- and 12-year-old daughters for 45 minutes in a vehicle in the parking lot of Lady Luck Casino Nemacolin in 2017 in order to gamble.

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 April 2023 it has identified 359 incidents of adults leaving children unattended to gamble at Pennsylvania casinos involving 576 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, June 28, 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: The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.