The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB), the gambling regulator in the state, announced Wednesday a financial penalty was imposed against an operator that allowed a person under age 21 to gamble. Coinciding with the announcement of the fine, the regulator placed multiple individuals on an involuntary exclusion list from the state’s casinos after they were found leaving children unattended to gamble.
Operator Receives $10,000 Fine
The fine was presented by the PGCB’s Office of Enforcement Counsel (OEC) at a public meeting. It was issued against Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment, the operator of Parx Casino in Bucks County. The $10,000 fine comes after an incident identified an 18-year-old male was able to access Parx Casino’s gaming floor and gamble at a gaming table.
Currently, the gambling regulations in Pennsylvania prohibit individuals under 21 years of age to access casinos’ floors or gamble at casinos. Under the active regulations, casino operators are responsible for controlling the access of individuals to their gaming floors. This includes age verification to ensure visitors of the venue are old enough to access the casino floors and engage in gambling activities.
“The $10,000 fine was levied after casino personnel permitted entry to an 18-year-old male onto the gaming floor who then gambled at a gaming table,“
reads a statement released by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board
Multiple Individuals Added to Involuntary Exclusion List
In addition to the recent fine, the PGCB said it “acted on petitions by OEC to ban seven adults from all casinos in the Commonwealth for leaving a total of 13 children unattended in order to gamble.” The gambling regulator reiterated that leaving children unattended by adults in hotels, cars or parking garages is prohibited. What’s more, the PGCB pointed out that these types of incidents are subject to criminal prosecution and such individuals are involuntarily excluded from all gambling venues in the state. Overall, the Board added seven individuals to an involuntary exclusion list, five male and two female.
One incident is related to a male patron that left three children unattended in a vehicle in the Presque Isle Downs and Casino parking lot for 16 minutes. A separate incident involves a male that left his 13-year-old child unattended for more than 20 minutes in a car in the same parking lot as the previous case.
Two other males were involuntarily excluded after leaving two children unattended for 12 minutes at the parking garage of Harrah’s Philadelphia Casino and Racetrack. Another incident, according to the PGCB involves a male patron that left a 2-year-old child unattended for six minutes in a car at the parking lot of Valley Forge Casino Resort.
The PGCB said that one female was involuntarily excluded after leaving five children unattended at the food court of the Valley Forge Casino Resort for more than an hour. Last but not least, another female was involuntarily excluded from gambling after leaving a 15-year-old child unattended at a car in Harrah’s Philadelphia Casino and Racetrack parking garage for more than seven hours.