$29,000 in Fines Levied by Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board

HARRISBURG, Pa., Aug. 21, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board today levied fines totaling $29,000 against two casino operators for various violations.

The fines were the result of consent agreements between the PGCB's Office of Enforcement Counsel and the casino license holder which were approved by the Board at its public meeting in Harrisburg.

The largest single fine, $15,000, was approved by the Board against Mountainview Thoroughbred Racing Association, operator of the Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course in Dauphin County, for permitting an underage person to gamble.

The incident occurred in May of 2013 when a 20-year-old female entered the gaming floor with her parents and proceeded to play 11 different slot machines for nearly two hours. After being approached and found to be underage by Hollywood Casino personnel, the underage patron was questioned and then charged with Defiant Trespass by the Pennsylvania State Police.

Two other fines totaling $14,000 were levied against Chester Downs and Marina, LLC, operator of the Harrah's Philadelphia Casino and Racetrack in Delaware County.

The first fine was the result of the casino failing to account for a slot cash storage box (or "hot box") containing uncounted cash.  The hot box was later found inside the slot machine located in a warehouse after the casino inadvertently failed to remove it prior to moving the slot machine from the gaming floor. The Board approved a $10,000 fine for that regulatory violation.

A second consent agreement resulted in a $4,000 fine against Chester Downs and Marina for failure to properly protect assets along with the loss of table games revenue stemming from two separate incidents in 2012 involving dealers who allegedly colluded with patrons.  Upon uncovering the matters, Harrah's personnel conducted an investigation of these incidents and reported its findings to both the Board and the Pennsylvania State Police. Together, the incidents resulted in $3,673.44 in lost tax revenue to the Commonwealth, and the dealers and the patrons involved in both cases were criminally charged.

The next meeting of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board is scheduled for 10:00 a.m., Wednesday, September 18, 2013 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 12 casinos in operation all offer both slot machine and table game gambling, employ over 16,000 people, and collectively generate an average of $4 million per day in tax revenue. 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.

CONTACT:
Doug Harbach or Richard McGarvey
(717) 346-8321

SOURCE Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board