Pennsylvania self-exclusion registrations reach 20,000
The state’s self-exclusion scheme launched in 2006.
US.- The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) has announced that on June 5, 2023 it received its 20,000th voluntary request to be excluded from gambling at casinos and retail sports wagering locations. Established in 2006, the Casino Self-Exclusion Program allows people to request to be banned from gambling for one year, five years or for life.
While a person is on this list, gaming facilities in the Commonwealth must refuse wagers from and deny check cashing, club membership, complementary goods and services and junket participation. Those on the list can be charged with criminal trespass if they enter a Pennsylvania casino and can have any gambling winnings confiscated.
Some 4,335 (21 per cent) of the 20,000 people on the list have chosen the lifetime ban. Some 12,811 men and 7,189 women have enrolled in the self-exclusion programme, from the age of 21 to 102. Some 1,026 people chose to reenroll after previously removing their names from the list, including 307 who selected a lifetime ban at re-enrollment.
Elizabeth Lanza, director of the Office of Compulsive and Problem Gambling (OCPG), said: “The Casino Self-Exclusion Program, along with the agency’s 3 other self-exclusion programs, are effective and proven tools that allow for individuals to regain control over their lives, and to learn about other recovery resources.
“The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board encourages anyone who thinks they may have a gambling problem to seek treatment and consider taking advantage of the voluntary Self-Exclusion Programs.”
Lanza added that many enrolled in the Casino Self-Exclusion Program not only engaged in slot machine and table games gambling but other types of gaming activities regulated by the PGCB such as online casino, sports wagering and video gaming terminals (VGTs) at truck stops and fantasy sports. The state regulator has additional self-exclusion programmes for these verticals. There numbers are: igaming 3,778; VGTs 1,467; fantasy sports: 797.
