Abbie Chadwick
According to the latest press release by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB), the regulator imposed a $30,000 fine on Live! Casino Pittsburgh. The gaming and entertainment venue, located in Hempfield Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, was penalized for breaching regulations regarding gambling access to underage and self-excluded players.
More specifically, a man under 21 and two self-excluded women set foot on the casino gaming floor with no trouble. Accordingly, the regulator imposed a $10,000 fine for breaching underage gambling regulations, and a $20,000 fine for allowing access to gambling to individuals who were on the board’s Casino Self-Exclusion List. Besides those fines, the casino was supposed to pay an additional $5,000 to cover board staff expenses.
As per information from the board’s officials, one of the women spent more than seven hours engaging in casino games before she was dismissed from the establishment. The 20-year-old man spent seven minutes playing slot games prior to being removed from the casino floor.
Sean Sullivan, General Manager at Live! Casino Pittsburgh commented on the cases through an email statement. He said that the business was well aware of the gravity of both underage and problem gambling. Sullivan assured that the establishment regularly reviewed its policies and procedures regarding security procedures. According to him, such incidents occurred rarely, as the business aimed to provide a safe and fun environment for all patrons.
Richard McGarvey, PGCB’s Spokesperson, Comments on the Board’s Self-Exclusion and Underage Gambling Practices
As part of its commitment to responsible gambling practices, the PGCB offers self-exclusion programs that enable individuals susceptible to problem gambling to willingly exclude themselves. Richard McGarvey, PGCB’s spokesperson explained that participation in the board’s self-exclusion programs was possible for one year, five years or a lifetime. He added that self-exclusion violations have generated $760,000 in fines from casino operators across Pennsylvania.
The board’s spokesperson further explained that casino operators were banned from providing player cards and promotional materials to persons who had enrolled in a self-exclusion program. Lists of participants in those programs were updated weekly and sent over to casinos’ security departments which were supposed to impede such players’ access to casino gaming floors.
As far as underage gambling is concerned, it is also among the board’s main priorities, with $3.6 million in fines issued over such violations from 2007 to date.
According to the same press release from the PGCB, the regulator imposed a total of $73,075 in fines. Besides the above-mentioned violations associated with Live! Casino Pittsburgh, resulting in $30,000 in fines, two other businesses were penalized.
The first one was Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores, Inc., which suffered a fine of $25,000 for not delivering the board with information on ownership structure changes concerning its five VGT Truck Stop Establishment locations. The second one was Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment, Inc., which was penalized $18,075 for neglecting to submit two license renewal applications on time.