Pennsylvania regulator fines six casinos
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board has issued six fines totalling $238,500.
US.- The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) has approved consent agreements between the PGCB’s Office of Enforcement Counsel and two licensed manufacturers plus four casino operators resulting in a total of $238,500 in fines. The issues sanctioned included overservice of alcohol, a self-exclusion violation and underage gambling, resulting in an unusually high number of penalties.
The PCGB has also approved the placement of another person on its Involuntary Exclusion List for gambling in a casino while leaving a young child in a car.
The consent agreements approved are as follows:
- Gaming Partners International USA, Inc. and GPI Mexicana S.A. de C.V., fines each of $85,500, for failure to timely file audited financial statements;
- Washington Trotting Association, LLC, operator of Hollywood Casino at the Meadows in Washington County, a fine of $40,000 for the overservice of alcohol;
- Downs Racing, L.P., operator of Mohegan Sun Pocono Casino in Luzerne County, a fine of $10,000 for a self-exclusion violation;
- Sugarhouse HSP Gaming, LP, operator of Rivers Casino Philadelphia, a fine of $10,000 for permitting an underaged individual to gain access to the gaming floor and gamble; and,
- Holdings Acquisition Co., LP, operator of Rivers Casino Pittsburgh, a fine of $7,500 for using revoked software for certain slot machines.
Gaming Partners International USA, Inc. and GPI Mexicana S.A. de C.V. both hold Table Game Manufacturer Licenses. As such, each of the entities are required by law to submit an audited annual financial statement to the PGCB no later than 90 days after the end of its 2019 and 2020 fiscal years.
The required reports for both entities were received late. The 2019 reports were received 610 days late the 2020 reports 245 days late. A fine of $100 per day was applied, resulting in fines of $85,500 for each of the two license holders.
Washington Trotting Association received a $40,000 fine for two incidents in which Hollywood Casino at the Meadows served alcohol to visibly intoxicated customers. Hollywood Casino at the Meadows has been reminded to prevent visibly intoxicated patrons from entering and remaining on the gambling floor.
The $10,000 fine against Downs Racing, L.P. stemmed from an incident in which Mohegan Sun Pocono personnel failed to stop an individual on the PGCB’s self-exclusion list from both gambling at slot machines and cashing a cheque. Under PGCB regulations, a casino must identify self-excluded patrons and refuse gaming privileges and other gaming-related activities such as the cashing of checks.
The incident that led to a fine of $10,000 against Sugarhouse HSP Gaming, LP involved a 20-year-old who gained entrance to the gaming floor at Rivers Casino Philadelphia and participated in table games.
The fine of $7,500 against Holdings Acquisition Co., LP stemmed from Rivers Casino Pittsburgh personnel failing to install replacement software on a dozen slot machines as instructed by the PGCB’s Bureau of Gaming Laboratory Operations. The failure did not result in any additional regulatory violations.
The Board was also presented with an incident in which an adult left a 7-year-old child in an unattended vehicle in the parking lot of Presque Isle Casino in Erie County while he gambled at the casino’s sportsbook facility.
This led to the person being placed on the PGCB’s Involuntary Exclusion List, which prohibits individuals from entering and gambling at all Pennsylvania casinos. Since 2011, 135 people have been placed on the list.
Hearings ahead for two casino licence renewals
Valley Forge Casino Resort and Rivers Casino Philadelphia will have public hearings on their licence renewals this month. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board has announced the meetings will take place on April 26 for Rivers Casino and April 27 for Valley Forge Casino.
Citizens, public officials and community groups can choose to speak or submit written testimony to the meetings. The hearings are open to the public and will also be live-streamed from the board’s website.
At the respective meetings, the regulator is set to take public comment on the renewal of the Slot Machine Operator license for Slot Machine Operator license for Category 3 licensee Valley Forge Convention Center Partner, operator of the Valley Forge Casino Resort in Montgomery County; and on the renewal of the Slot Machine Operator license for Category 2 licensee Sugarhouse HSP Gaming, operator of Rivers Casino Philadelphia.
