The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board approved three consent agreements presented by the state’s Office of Enforcement Counsel during its recent public meeting regarding violations that occurred at three casinos. Total fines levied were nearly $150,000.
Mount Airy #1, LLC, the operator of Mount Airy Casino Resort, was fined $120,000 for failure to timely submit internal audit plans. Downs Racing, L.P., operator of Mohegan Pennsylvania casino, received a fine of $20,000 for two incidents in which supervisory employees worked without the proper Board-issued permit. Sugarhouse HSP Gaming, L.P., operator of Rivers Casino Philadelphia, was hit with a $7,500 fine for not properly notifying its security and surveillance staff along with law enforcement about an alleged cheating incident at a table game involving marked cards.
The Board also acted on petitions to ban three adults from all casinos in the state for leaving a total of six children unattended to engage in gaming activities:
A male patron was placed on the Involuntary Exclusion List after leaving three children, ages 3, 8, and 10, unattended in a vehicle in the Mohegan Pennsylvania casino parking lot while he wagered at the sportsbook.
A female patron was placed on the Involuntary Exclusion List after leaving two children, ages 2 and 5, unattended in the food court at Valley Forge Casino Resort to wager at the sportsbook, and later once again left the children unattended in a vehicle in the casino’s parking lot but was approached by security before she was able to gamble.
Another female gambler was placed on the Involuntary Exclusion List after leaving her 13-year-old child unattended in a vehicle at Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course while she cashed a check and gambled on slot machines.
Leaving minors unattended at a Pennsylvania casino can result in criminal prosecution and exclusion from all Pennsylvania casinos. Since the start of 2022 through March 2023, the state has identified 344 incidents of adults leaving children unattended to gamble at Pennsylvania casinos involving 568 minors.