PA Gaming Control Board Bans Four Adults From Gambling At Casinos For Leaving Minors Unattended

August 24, 2023 | Government

HARRISBURG, PA (August 23, 2023) — The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (“Board”) approved petitions filed by its Office of Enforcement Counsel banning four adults from all casinos in the Commonwealth for leaving minors unattended in order to engage in gaming activities:

A male and female were placed on the Involuntary Exclusion List after leaving a 9-year-old unattended in a vehicle in the parking garage of Wind Creek Bethlehem for 1 hour 34 minutes while they gambled at slot machines;
A female patron was placed on the Involuntary Exclusion List after leaving a 13-year-old unattended in a vehicle in the parking lot of Hollywood Casino York for 39 minutes while she gambled at slot machines; and,
A male patron was placed on the Involuntary Exclusion List after leaving a 6-year-old unattended in a vehicle in the parking garage of Rivers Casino Pittsburgh for 1 hour 44 minutes while he gambled at table games.

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 minor. Leaving minors unattended at a Pennsylvania casino also subjects the offending adult to criminal prosecution in addition to exclusion from all Pennsylvania casinos.

To compliment the efforts by casinos to mitigate this issue, the Board created an awareness campaign, “Don’t Gamble with Kids.” While the Board tracked 197 incidents of unattended minors through the first seven months of 2022, that number has been reduced to 126 incidents in the first seven months of 2023.

The next meeting of the Board is scheduled for 10:00 a.m., Wednesday, September 20, 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 $2.3 billion in tax revenue in Fiscal Year 2022/23.

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 X (formerly Twitter) by choosing @PAGamingControl.