The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) has levied a total of six penalties, amounting to $238,500 (£215,780/€259,673), for a string of occurrences within the state.
Two gaming enterprises, Gaming Partners International US and GPI Mexico, were each penalized $85,500 for failing to submit verified financial records in a timely manner.
License holders for table game manufacturing in Pennsylvania are obligated to provide audited annual financial reports to the PGCB within 90 days following the conclusion of the fiscal year for both 2019 and 2020.
However, the PGCB discovered that both companies were delinquent in submitting the required reports, with the 2019 report being 610 days overdue and the 2020 report being 245 days past due. Consequently, a penalty of $100 was imposed per day from the due date until the report was received, leading to an $85,500 fine for each license holder.
Meanwhile, the Washington County Horse Racing Association (which manages the Hollywood Casino in Washington County) was penalized $40,000 for two incidents related to excessive alcohol service.
In one instance, a patron consumed 17 pints of beer over a period of 12 hours and 44 minutes, resulting in the patron falling and sustaining an injury.
In the subsequent event, a patron consumed five mixed beverages, three glasses of vino, and one bottle of brew within three hours and twenty-nine minutes before physically assaulting two patrons and two security personnel within the gambling establishment.
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board’s mandated and problem gambling program requires Hollywood Meadows Casino to prohibit visibly intoxicated patrons from entering and remaining on the casino grounds.
Downs Racing Company, the operator of Mohegan Sun Pocono Casino in Luzerne County, was penalized $10,000 for breaching self-exclusion regulations after the casino failed to prevent a person registered on the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board’s self-exclusion list from engaging in slot machine play and cashing a check.
The twenty-year-old player entered the Philadelphia Rivers Casino gaming area and participated in table games. Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board regulations mandate casinos to identify self-excluded patrons and deny them gaming privileges and other gaming-related activities.
Lastly, Holdings Acquisition Company, the operator of Pittsburgh Rivers Casino, was fined $7,500 for utilizing revoked software on certain slot machines. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board stated that the venue’s staff failed to install replacement software on twelve slot machines as instructed by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board’s Gaming Laboratory Operations Bureau.
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board did note that the malfunction did not lead to any additional regulatory violations involving the legal gaming of the slot machines in question.
In the meantime, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) has added another individual to their list of banned patrons after the individual left a young child alone in a vehicle while engaging in gambling activities at a casino.
A seven-year-old child was left without supervision in the parking area of Presque Isle Downs & Casino in Erie County while the individual placed wagers at the casino’s sports betting location.
As a consequence, the individual has been added to the list of banned patrons and will no longer be permitted to enter or gamble at any casino in Pennsylvania.
“The Board reminds the public that leaving children alone in parking lots or garages, hotels, or other areas while participating in gambling at a casino is not only a reason for exclusion from all Pennsylvania casinos and potential legal action, but more importantly, it puts the child’s safety at risk,” the PGCB stated.
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