Pennsylvania’s Gaming Control Board announced on Wednesday several punishments for casino violations.
The Office of Enforcement Counsel presented a list of rule violations to the state’s gaming control board and they approved $45,000 in fines and placed four adults on the involuntary exclusion list.
The fines hit two companies, $5,000 was charged to Lightning Gaming Inc, a manufacturer of slot machines who failed to notify the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board for changes to their finance status.
The second was the Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course in Grantville, PA. Their operator received a $40,000 fine when regulators found three underage persons who gambled in the casino.
Added to involuntary exclusion list
On top of the two fines, four adults were punished.
Two men, and two women were caught in four separate incidents leaving their children in vehicles while they went inside casinos to gamble. The average length of time was 14 minutes but police officers at the Valley Forge Casino Resort had to break into a car to free a one-year-old child left in a vehicle for nine minutes with the outside temperature at 84 degrees.
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board is not new to these violations, they created the “Don’t Gamble with Kids” awareness campaign.
"We also want the gaming public to understand the scope of this problem and if they see a child unattended in a parking lot, hotel or elsewhere to report it to casino personnel or local authorities."
- Kevin O’Toole, executive director of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board
Even before this PSA casinos have made attempts to prevent these incidents, although most place signs to warn patrons. Boyd Gaming in 2021 made a serious move when they announced a plan to place infrared cameras in the parking lot to make sure cars were unattended.
