PA Gaming Control Board Fines Casino $125,000 for Underage Gaming Violations

Board also took action on three adults for gambling at casinos while leaving minors unattended

HARRISBURG, PA: (May 22, 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 $125,000 against Wind Creek Bethlehem, LLC for 10 incidents in which underage individuals gained access to the gaming floor at the casino it operates.

The incidents, which occurred over a 20-month period at Wind Creek Bethlehem in Northampton County, involved 11 individuals between the ages of 18-20.

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

The Board also acted to ban, or leave intact an earlier ban, of three adults from all casinos in the Commonwealth for leaving minors unattended in order to engage in gaming activities:

A male and a female patron were placed on the Involuntary Exclusion List after leaving a 5-month-old unattended in a running vehicle while the outside temperature was 47 degrees in the parking garage of Harrah’s Philadelphia Casino & Racetrack in Delaware County for 30 minutes while he gambled at a table game; and,

• A female patron’s request to be removed from the Board’s Involuntary Exclusion List for a 2017 incident in which she left a 4-year-old unattended while in Rivers Philadelphia Casino was denied. The child was unattended for 15 minutes in a non-running vehicle in the parking lot while the outside temperature was 95 degrees.

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.  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, June 26, 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. You can also follow the agency on X (formerly Twitter) by choosing @PAGamingControl

SOURCE: Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.