The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board has fined a Pilot Travel Centers, LLC $45,000 for violations at a qualified truck stop.
The fine is a result of a consent agreement presented by the Board’s Office of Enforcement Counsel regarding a violation that occurred at the Video Gaming Terminal location. The fine was levied after Pilot Travel Centers, LLC, was found to have allowed an incident of underage gambling and also failing to have a Board-credentialed employee on duty while people were able to use VGTs.
In the Gaming Control Board’s monthly meeting it also identified and banned four adults from all casinos in the region after they were found to have left minors unattended in order to gamble, or attend Pennsylvania’s casino properties. The breaches are as follows:
- A male leaving two children aged three and seven in a running car at Live! Philadelphia Casino for 24 minutes while he visited the casino’s sportsbook. An additional note suggests the 7-year-old left the car and was found walking around the parking lot, with the 3-year-old left alone
- A male leaving a 5-year-old child unattended in a vehicle at Wind Creek Bethlehem for 27 minutes while he entered the casino
- A female with two alleged offences. The first, leaving a 10-year old child unattended in a vehicle near Rivers Casino Philadelphia for 22 minutes to ‘obtain a promotional gift’.The child was forced to leave the vehicle and enter the casino after it was struck by another vehicle. The other offence was leaving two children aged 11 and 12 in the parking lot of Live! Philadelphia Casino for 25 minutes
- A female leaving three children aged 10,14 and 15 in a running vehicle for 2 hours and 2 minutes at Hollywood Casino while she gambled on slots
For the first eight months of 2023, the number of incidents regarding unattended minors tracked by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board was 151. This is a reduction of 35.2% from the 233 at the same point the year prior.
The reduction is significant, following the Board’s awareness campaign dubbed “Don’t Gamble with Kids” which aims to highlight the dangers of leaving minors unattended while attending casino properties in the state.