PA Gaming Control Board Fines Casino For Underage Gambling Violations

Vendor also fined for failure to comply with licensing policies

HARRISBURG, PA: A casino operator and a vendor were fined a total of $29,000 today by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board for separate violations.

The larger of the fines, $24,000, was levied against Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment, Inc. operators of Philadelphia Park Casino and Racetrack in Bensalem, for two separate instance of allowing underage gambling to occur. The Pennsylvania Racehorse Development and Gaming Act forbids slot machine gambling by individuals under the age of 21.

The civil penalty was assessed by the Board at its public hearing in Harrisburg and stemmed from violations that occurred in 2008:

On July 6, 2008, a 20 year old male walked past a security guard and played a slot machine for at least eight minutes, and was also seen sitting at several other machines over an hour’s time before being asked for identification.
On November 1, 2008, an 18 year old male walked past two security guards without being asked for identification, played slot machines and cashed a voucher. Later, after leaving the gaming floor and attempting to re-enter, identification was requested.

The Pennsylvania State Police issued trespass or defiant trespass summonses to the underage offenders.

At today’s meeting, Philadelphia Park acknowledged to the Board that it has taken appropriate actions to discipline employees, and in one instance even terminated an employee involved in these incidents. The casino has also hired a new Security Director who has, among other things, increased the number of security employees during peak hours, and the casino publicly pledged its support to meet the Gaming Act’s goals of prohibiting underage gaming in Pennsylvania.

In a separate action, the Board fined a Canadian firm, Sprung Instant Structures, Inc. of Calgary, $5,000 for failing to comply with various requests of the Bureau of Licensing regarding the submission of necessary information needed to gain approval as a Certified Vendor. The company supplies and leases the structure that houses the temporary slots facility for The Meadows Racetrack and Casino in Washington County.

In addition to the fine, Sprung Instant Structures agreed to reimburse the Gaming Control Board $28,000 for the projected cost to complete its investigation.

The next regularly scheduled Board meeting is Wednesday, April 8, 2009 at the State Museum Auditorium in Harrisburg. The meeting is slated to being at 11:00 a.m.

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