Pennsylvania gaming regulator issues fines for igaming breaches
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board has levied $60,000 in fines.
US.- The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board has approved three consent agreements presented by the board’s Office of Enforcement Counsel. The fines, all related to igaming, total $60,000. Two relate to breaches of self-exclusion requests.
It fined Mountainview Thoroughbred Racing Association, LLC, operator of Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course, $45,000 for allowing five people enrolled in the Board’s igaming self-exclusion program to conduct gaming activity on its online Barstool Sportsbook. An interactive gaming certificate must refuse wagers from anyone on the list.
Meanwhile, Downs Racing, operator of Mohegan Pennsylvania casino, and its igaming partner Unibet Interactive, were jointly ordered to pay a fine of $7,500 for failure to suspend an interactive gaming account of a player who had requested a temporary suspension of online gaming activities. The player had requested a 90-day “cool off” period but the request went unacknowledged and substantial gaming activity continued for 21 more days.
Finally, Evolution US, holder of an igaming Manufacturer License, was fined $7,500 over an unlicensed employee dealing several games of blackjack in its gaming studio for live dealer interactive gaming.
The Pennsylvania regulator also acted on petitions by OEC to ban two adults from casinos in the Commonwealth for leaving children unattended. A man was placed on the Involuntary Exclusion List after leaving a 12-year-old unattended in a running vehicle in the Presque Isle Downs & Casino parking lot while he wagered at the sportsbook.
A woman was placed on the list for having left a 14-month-old unattended in a running vehicle in the Valley Forge Casino and Resort parking lot while she wagered at the sportsbook.
The board said its actions 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. “Leaving minors unattended at a Pennsylvania casino also subjects the offending adult to criminal prosecution in addition to exclusion from all Pennsylvania casinos,” it said.
The PGCB is reporting that since the start of 2022 through February 2023 it has identified 331 incidents of adults leaving children unattended to gamble at Pennsylvania casinos involving 522 minors.
In November, it launched a new awareness campaign on the issue. The “Don’t Gamble with Kids” campaign was spurred by concern over the number of minors being left in vehicles in casino parking lots or hotel rooms.
See also: Pennsylvania gaming revenue reaches $456.8m in February
