The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) has announced fines totaling $60,000 related to PA online casino operations.
The largest fine of $45,000 was levied on Mountainview Thoroughbred Racing Association, which operates Hollywood Casino at Penn National Racecourse. Their infraction was allowing five individuals who were enrolled in the PGCB’s iGaming Self-Exclusion program to play on its online Barstool Sportsbook.
That’s a no-no. If you’re on the list, you don’t get to play. And if you put yourself on the list, you’re clearly asking for help.
Downs Racing, which runs Mohegan Pennsylvania casino, and its iGaming partner Unibet Interactive, were jointly ordered to pay a fine of $7,500.
Their mistake was for failure to suspend a Pennsylvania mobile gaming account for an individual who had used one of the site’s tools to get help as a compulsive gambler and had asked for a temporary suspension of online gaming activities. The individual in question had requested a 90-day “cool off” period but the request went unacknowledged. The individual continued to compulsively gamble for three more weeks.
Evolution US was also fined $7,500. That operator’s error was allowing an unlicensed employee to work as a live dealer for interactive gambling and deal several games of blackjack.
Two Adults Banned For Leaving Kids in Lots to Gamble
The PGCB also announced in its news release that acted on petitions by its Office of Enforcement Counsel to ban two adults from all Pennsylvania casinos for leaving children unattended while they wagered.
In one case a male patron left a 12-year-old in the Presque Isle Downs & Casino parking lot while he hit the sportsbook. In the other, a female patron left a 14-month-old unattended in her car at the Valley Forge Casino and Resort parking lot while she bet at its sportsbook.
It shouldn’t need to be said, but leaving unattended minors in parking lots, garages, hotels, or sitting on the curb outside a casino is not safe for the children and it's a bad look for the casino. It’s also a crime for which the offending adult could be prosecuted.
The PGCB reported that since the start of 2022 through February 2023, it has identified 331 incidents of adults leaving 522 children unattended to gamble at Pennsylvania casinos. Some adults therefore left more than one child alone.
The problem remains serious enough that the PGCB has a specific “Don’t Gamble with Kids” campaign.
The Gaming Control Board oversees all aspects of gambling at 17 land-based casinos in the state. It also oversees online casino games, retail and online Pennsylvania sports betting, and video gaming terminals (VGTs) at qualified truck stops, along with the regulation of online fantasy sports contests.
Casinos and other types of Board-regulated gaming generated over $2 billion in tax revenue in Pennsylvania in 2022.
