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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 19th, 2014

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA

Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board
P.O. Box 69060
Harrisburg, PA 17106-9060

CONTACT

Doug Harbach or Richard McGarvey (717) 346-8321

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board Approves Over $210,000 In Casino Fines

HARRISBURG, PA:   The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board today approved three consent agreements involving two casinos with fines totaling $210,218.

The fines were the result of the approval of a consent agreement between its Office of Enforcement Counsel and both Valley Forge Convention Partners, LP, operator of the Valley Forge Casino Resort and Mountainview Thoroughbred Association, operator of the Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course

Two of the consent agreements involved Valley Forge Casino, one for its mishandling of promotions and the other for permitting underage persons to gamble.

The consent agreement regarding promotions resulted in a $150,000 fine for the Montgomery County casino.  The fine was the result of an investigation by the PGCB’s Bureau of Investigations and Enforcement (BIE) in which:

  • Between March 31, 2012 and December 31, 2013, Valley Forge Casino did not submit its gaming promotional offerings to the PGCB and the Department of Revenue approximately 45% of the time as required by its approved internal controls;

  •  Between March 31, 2012 and November 30, 2013, Valley Forge Casino did not ensure that patrons redeeming free nongaming promotional rewards paid the required non-de minimis consideration of $10 for access to the casino floor as required by the Gaming Act and PGCB Regulations; and

  • Valley Forge did not adequately maintain records reflecting the issuance of casino access passes.

The second fine involving Valley Forge Casino stemmed from four (4) incidents of permitting individuals under the age of 21 to access its casino floor and/or gambled:

  • January 14, 2014 - a 20 year old female gained access to the gaming floor then played slot machines;
  • March 6, 2014 - a 20 year old male gained access to the gaming floor then engaged in table  game play;
  • March 22, 2014 - a 20 year old male gained access to the gaming floor and attempted to purchase an alcoholic beverage, but did not gamble;
  • May 16, 2014 -   a 20 year old male gained access to the gaming floor then engaged in slot machine and table game play.

The operators of the Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course in Grantville, Dauphin County were fined $10,218 in a third approved consent agreement for permitting an ATM on the casino floor for approximately 10 months that did allow for cash advances on credit cards.  Under the Gaming Act, no credit card advance machine may be placed on the gaming floor, though such machines that offer credit card advance are permitted to operate within the horse racetrack area. The fine represented the amount of fees netted by the casino while that ATM was on the casino floor.

The next meeting of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board is scheduled for 10:00 a.m., Wednesday, December 10, 2014 in the PGCB’s Public Hearing Room located on the second floor of Strawberry Square in Harrisburg. 

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 30 years, the Gaming Control Board is tasked to oversee all aspects of the state’s casino industry. The 10 stand-alone and racetrack casinos in operation, along with the two resort casinos, collectively employ over 17,700 people within their facilities and generate an average of $4 million per day in tax revenue from slot machine and table games play. A portion of that money is used for property tax reduction to all Pennsylvania homeowners; provide funds to the Commonwealth’s horse racing industry, fire companies, a statewide water and sewer project grant program, and the state’s General Fund; and, established a new stream of tax revenue to local governments that host casinos for community projects.

A wealth of information about the Gaming Control Board’s regulatory efforts and Pennsylvania’s gaming industry can be found at www.gamingcontrolboard.pa.gov. At this website, visitors can watch Board meetings live or view videos of past meetings, look up future meeting schedules and past meeting transcripts, obtain information on identifying a gambling problem and gaining assistance, access an interactive map of casino locations, request a speaker for their group, along with much more information.  You can also follow the agency on Twitter by choosing @PAGamingControl.

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