PA Gaming Control Board Levies $30,000 Fine for an Underage Gambling Violation
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board has approved a consent agreement resulting in a $30,000 fine against the operator of Valley Forge Casino Resort after it allowed a 13-year-old to gain entry to the gaming floor and gamble.
The consent agreement, presented by the Board’s Office of Enforcement Counsel (OEC), outlined the facts about the incident that occurred in November 2024 and resulted in the underage individual being on the gaming floor for more than six hours and gamble on slot machines.
A copy of any of the approved Consent Agreements containing additional details are available upon request through the Board’s Office of Communications.
The Board also took actions to place 12 individuals on its various Involuntary Exclusion Lists. Placement on an Involuntary Exclusion List prohibits individuals from either gaming in a casino in Pennsylvania, via an online betting site regulated by the Board, or a Video Gaming Terminal (VGT) location.
These matters, presented by the Board’s Office of Chief Counsel and the OEC, raise the number of individuals now on the Board’s various Involuntary Exclusion Lists to 1422.
The actions by the Board this week include placement of 10 individuals on the Involuntary Casino Exclusion List including 3 for leaving minors unattended in vehicles while they gambled:
A female patron who left two children, 3 and 9-years-old, in a vehicle in the parking lot of Wind Creek Casino Bethlehem for 10 minutes in order to gamble at slot machines; and,
A male and a female patron who together left two 8-year-old children in a vehicle in the parking lot of Presque Isle Downs & Casino for 29 minutes while they gambled in the sportsbook.
Actions such as these to deny statewide gambling privileges serve as a reminder that adults are prohibited from leaving minors unattended in the parking lot or garage, a hotel, or other venues at a casino since it creates a potentially unsafe and dangerous environment for the children. To complement the efforts by casinos to mitigate this issue, the Board created an awareness campaign, “Don’t Gamble with Kids”.
Additionally, 2 others were placed on the Board’s Involuntary Interactive Gaming Exclusion list for fraudulent actions involving online gambling.
