PA Gaming Control Board Fines Casino for Sports Wagering Regulatory Violations

HARRISBURG, PA: (June 26, 2024) — The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (“Board”) approved a consent agreement today presented by the Board’s Office of Enforcement Counsel (“OEC”) during its public meeting resulting in a fine of $100,000 against Stadium Casino RE, LLC, operator of Live! Casino and Hotel Philadelphia (“Live! Casino”) for taking and placing sports wagers by phone.

The fine was levied after several team members of the Live! Casino Sportsbook accepted and placed 15 wagers totaling $287,421 over an eight-day period for a patron who was not present in the casino. These types of wagers are known as “proxy wagers” and are not permitted through policies established by the casino and approved by the Board. In addition, the Pennsylvania Gaming Act specifically prohibits knowingly accepting a wager from any person other than the person making the wager.

Three Live! Casino Sportsbook employees who accepted and placed the wagers were terminated and the Board revoked the gaming employment license of each. The patron was placed on the Board’s Involuntary Exclusion list and can no longer gamble in Pennsylvania.

A copy of the approved consent agreement offering more details is available upon request through the Board’s Office of Communications.

The Board also took action to deny the removal of two individuals previously placed on the Involuntary Exclusion List for incidents in 2019 and 2022 for leaving minors unattended in a vehicle while they gambled in a casino. Actions such as these to deny statewide gambling privileges 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. To compliment the efforts by casinos to mitigate this issue, the Board created an awareness campaign, “Don’t Gamble with Kids”.

The next meeting of the Board is scheduled for 10:00 a.m., Wednesday, July 24, 2024 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 $2.35 billion in tax revenue in 2023. Additional information about both the PGCB’s gaming regulatory efforts and Pennsylvania’s gaming industry can be found at gamingcontrolboard.pa.gov.

SOURCE: The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.