The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (“PGCB”) has levied $67,500 in fines against operators, as well as placing seven adults on its involuntary exclusion list for gambling at casinos while leaving minors unattended.

The PGCB met last week to discuss three consent agreements presented by the Board’s Office of Enforcement Control. It approved all three, fining three casinos a total of $67,500 for various violations.

How did each PA casino get hit?

The first, Downs Racing, L.P., is the operator of Mohegan Pennsylvania. The casino received a $50,000 fine for allowing individuals under the age of 21 to gain access to its casino gaming floor. The first incident considered saw the individual gain access multiple times to gamble, and the second time the individual gained access and was also illegally served alcohol.

Sugarhouse HSP Gaming L.P., the operator of Rivers Casino Philadelphia received a $7,500 fine for allowing an untrained employee to deal Roulette.

Finally, Holdings Acquisition L.P., operator of Rivers Casino Pittsburgh received a $10,000 fine for allowing a minor access to the gaming floor and gamble.

What were the individual offences?

In addition, the PGCB banned seven adults from all of the Commonwealth state casinos for leaving minors unattended when undertaking gambling activities:

The offenses were as follows:

  • Male and Female left a 9-year old child unattended in a hotel room for a total of 8 hours across 2 and half days in order to gamble;
  • Male left a 5-year-old unattended in a vehicle in the parking garage of Rivers Casino Philadelphia for 10 minutes while gambling on sportsbook;
  • Male left a 3-year-old unattended in a vehicle in the parking lot of Live! Philadelphia Hoten and Casino for 10 minutes while gambling on sportsbook;
  • Female left four children aged 2,10, 13 and 13 in a vehicle in the parking lot of Rivers Casino Pittsburgh for 40 minutes while she patronized the casino and observed gambling
  • Male left a 7-year old in the parking lot of Parx Casino Bensalem for 23 minutes while gambling on sportsbook and a slot machine;
  • Male left an 11-month-old child unattended in a vehicle in the parking lot of Rivers Casino Philadelphia for 42 minutes while playing table games

Leaving minors unattended at a PA casino also leaves potential for criminal prosecution in addition to the involuntary exclusion. In just short of 18 months, Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board has identified 397 incidents of adults leaving children unattended to gamble, involving over 600 minors.

Pennsylvania’s total gambling revenue for FY22 hit $5.51 billion, beating the previous record of $5.04 billion by a staggering 10%. Pennsylvania online casino was up 24.5% to $1.53 billion, with PA sports betting revenue reaching $492 million. All of the aforementioned were state records on a yearly basis.