Four Pennsylvania Casinos Receive Fines From the Gaming Control Board

HARRISBURG, PA: The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board today levied fines totaling $68,000 against four casino operators for various violations.

The fines were the result of Board approvals of consent agreements between the PGCB’s Office of Enforcement Counsel and:

· Downs Racing, L.P., operator of Mohegan Sun Pocono in Luzerne County, which was fined $37,500 for underage gaming violations;

· Chester Downs and Marina, LLC., operator of the Harrah’s Philadelphia Casino and Racetrack in Delaware County, which was fined $15,000 for a violation regarding table games;

· Mountainview Thoroughbred Racing Association, operator of Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course in Dauphin County, which was fined $8,000 for a procedural violation with table games; and,

· Valley Forge Convention Center Partners, L.P., operator of the Valley forge Casino Resort in Montgomery County, which was fined $7,500 for a violation of the self-exclusion program.

Details

The fine against Downs Racing, L.P. was for four separate incidents in which persons under the age of 21 were permitted to gain access to the gaming floor and gamble:

A 20-year-old was permitted access onto the gaming floor and wagered at table games;
A 20-year-old, who was also an employee at Mohegan Sun Pocono, wagered on slot machines and at table games, and obtained an alcoholic beverage;
A 20-year-old was permitted access onto the gaming floor and wagered at table games;
A 20-year-old was permitted access onto the gaming floor and wagered on slot machines.

The fine imposed on Chester Downs and Marina, LLC was for permitting a compromised deck of cards to be used at a blackjack table.

The fine against Mountainview Thoroughbred Racing Association stemmed from permitting a compromised deck of cards to be used at a poker table.

Finally, Valley Forge Convention Center Partners, L.P. was fined for an incident in which a patron who placed themself on the Board’s Self-Exclusion List was able to obtain a casino access pass and gamble at table games at the Valley Forge Casino. Persons on the Self-Excluded List must be denied gaming by the casino. The self-excluded individual was charged with Criminal Trespass.

The next meeting of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board is scheduled for 10:00 a.m., Wednesday, April 27, 2016 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 and is tasked to oversee all aspects of the state’s casino industry. There are 10 stand-alone and racetrack casinos in operation, along with the two resort casinos. These facilities collectively employ over 17,000 people and annually generates more than $1.4 billion in tax revenue from slot machine and table games play. The largest portion of that money is used for property tax reduction to all Pennsylvania homeowners with additional tax revenue going to the horse racing industry, economic development projects, fire companies, county fairs, water and sewer projects, the Commonwealth’s General Fund, and to local governments that host casinos.

Additional information about both the PGCB’s regulatory efforts and Pennsylvania’s casino gaming industry can be found at www.gamingcontrolboard.pa.gov. You can also follow the agency on Twitter by choosing @PAGamingControl.

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