The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board approved three consent agreements today resulting in $72,000 in fines.
The consent agreements were presented by the Board’s Office of Enforcement Counsel and outlined the facts about incidents that occurred at a Video Gaming Terminal establishment and at two casinos.
A copy of any of the approved Consent Agreements containing additional details are available upon request through the Board’s Office of Communications.
The largest of the fines involve a VGT establishment in Clinton County and totaled $50,000 including $45,000 assessed against the VGT license, Vasas, Inc. d/b/a Lucky Seven Travel Plaza in Lock Haven, along with $2,500 each against the two owners of the facility.
Among the findings of Board investigators were:
– that the establishment failed to have board credentialed employees on duty while the VGTs were operational; and,
– individuals under 21 years of age were able to access the VGT room and, on two occasions, minors operated the VGT machines.
The Board additionally approved Consent Agreements against two casinos resulting in fines of:
– $12,000 against Stadium Casino RE, LLC, operator of Live! Casino & Hotel Philadelphia, for allowing a compromised deck of cards to be used; and,
– $10,000 against Mountainview Thoroughbred Racing Association, LLC, operator of Hollywood Casino York, for allowing an involuntary excluded person to access the gaming floor and gamble.
The Board also today took actions to place 11 individuals on its various Involuntary Exclusion Lists. Placement on an Involuntary Exclusion List prohibits individuals from either gaming in a casino in Pennsylvania, via an online betting site regulated by the Board, or a Video Gaming Terminal location.
The actions by the Board today include placement of 10 individuals on the Involuntary Casino Exclusion List, 3 of those for leaving minors unattended in vehicles while they gambled:
– A male and a female patron who together left two children, ages 11 and 12, in a vehicle in the parking lot of Hollywood Casino Morgantown for 32 minutes while they gambled on slot machines and in the sportsbook; and,
– A female patron who left three children, ages 2,6 and 12, in a vehicle in the parking lot of Hollywood Casino York for 29 minutes while she gambled on slot machines and at table games.
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 complement the efforts by casinos to mitigate this issue, the Board created an awareness campaign, “Don’t Gamble with Kids”.
These matters, presented by the Board’s Office of Chief Counsel and the OEC, raise the number of individuals now on the Board’s various Involuntary Exclusion Lists to 1,448.
