Self-exclusion List Violations Lead To $40,000 Fine For PA Casino

HARRISBURG, PA: The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board today fined Mount Airy #1 LLC, operator of Mount Airy Casino Resort, $40,000 for allowing individuals on the statewide Self-Exclusion List to gain access to the gaming floor and place wagers, and for sending promotional mailings to a self-excluded individual.

The Self-Exclusion Program is administered by the PGCB and assists problem gamblers who choose to ban themselves from gambling at Pennsylvania casinos. Once a person is placed on the Self-Exclusion List, gaming facilities in the Commonwealth must refuse wagers from, and deny gaming privileges to, a self-excluded person, including issuance of a player’s club membership. The casino must also remove self-excluded persons from targeted mailings and other forms of advertising or promotions. If an individual on the Self-Exclusion List enters a Pennsylvania casino, they will be subject to arrest for trespass.

The civil penalties, unanimously approved by the Board at its public meeting Wednesday in Harrisburg, were for three incidents in 2009 and one in 2010. The fine was part of a consent agreement between the Board’s Office of Enforcement Counsel and the operator of the Monroe County casino.

The first incident involved an individual on the Self-Exclusion List who gamed at Mount Airy Casino Resort over the course of four days. During the four-day period from July 20-23, 2009, the self excluded individual gamed and opened a check cashing account with a Mount Airy cashier and cashed checks on five separate occasions.

The second incident involved an individual on the Self-Exclusion List who gamed at Mount Airy on September 25, 2009, and was paid a jackpot in the amount of $2,515.

The third incident involved an individual on the Self-Exclusion List who gamed at Mount Airy on July 23, 2009, September 23, 2009 and November 28.

The fourth incident involved a self-excluded individual who received six separate mailings from Mount Airy regarding promotions that were running between February 2010 and April 2010.

This is the fourth time a casino in Pennsylvania has been fined for Self-Exclusion List violations. The first two fines were levied on the Meadows Racetrack and Casino in December 2009 for $5,000 and in April 2010 for $20,000. The third fine was against Parx Casino in April 2010 for $10,000.

The next regularly scheduled Board meeting is Thursday, November 18, 2010 in the 2nd floor lecture hall of the Harrisburg Campus of Temple University located in Strawberry Square in Harrisburg. The meeting will begin at 12:30 p.m. An agenda for that meeting will be posted on the Board web site, www.pgcb.state.pa.us, prior to the meeting.

About the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board was established in 2004 with the passage of Act 71, also known as the Race Horse Development and Gaming Act. Pennsylvania’s first new state agency in nearly 40 years, the Gaming Control Board is tasked to oversee all aspects of the state’s casino industry. To date, with ten casinos in operation, legalized gaming in the Commonwealth has created over 13,000 new living wage jobs, revenue that has provided property tax reduction in each of the past three years for all homeowners, funds that have reinvigorated Pennsylvania’s horse racing industry, and new revenue to local governments that has funded scores of community projects. A wealth of information about the Gaming Control Board and Pennsylvania’s gaming industry can be found at www.pgcb.state.pa.us. At this web site, visitors can view videos of Board meetings and on the operation of the PGCB, obtain information on identifying a gambling problem and gaining assistance, look up future meeting schedules and past meeting transcripts, access an interactive map of casino locations, request a speaker for their group, along with much more information.

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