Pennsylvania regulator fines Live! Casino $50K for allowing self-excluded persons to gamble

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) approved a consent agreement on Wednesday resulting in a fine of $50,000 against Stadium Casino, operator of Live! Casino and Hotel Philadelphia.

Presented by the Office of Enforcement Counsel (OEC) during the regulator's latest public meeting, the consent agreement fines the operator for permitting four individuals on the Board’s Self-Exclusion list to gamble at the casino.
 
Pursuant to Board regulations, a casino must identify self-excluded patrons and refuse gaming privileges and other gaming-related activities such as the cashing of checks or cash advances, the regulator highlighted in a press statement.

iGaming Involuntary Exclusion List expands
 

The PGCB also approved recommendations by the OEC for the placement of 5 individuals on the iGaming Involuntary Exclusion List. According to the Board, the iGaming transactions that these individuals engaged in were investigated by the Board’s Bureau of Investigations and Enforcement and found to be fraudulent in two major respects:

The first instance is when an individual used a fraudulent scheme to obtain an iGaming account in another person’s name and identifiers. The second instance was when an individual used fraud to facilitate the placement of funds into their iGaming account and, without engaging in any gaming activity, managed to have funds withdrawn from their iGaming accounts directly into their own bank account.
 
The specific fraudulent conduct of each individual placed on the Exclusion List is as follows:

• In the first instance, two individuals together created 20 separate online accounts even though the operator’s Terms and Conditions forbid holding more than a single account associated with an individual;
• In another incident, an individual created 16 separate online accounts using the personal identification and credit cards of other individuals and withdrew $11,250 into his own personal bank account; 
• In a third instance, an individual illegally requested and received chargebacks to a credit card totaling $11,125; and,
• The fourth instance saw an individual illegally requested and received chargebacks to a credit card totaling $21,600. 

“The board’s actions in these matters stem from its commitment to keep individuals who have committed fraud from gaming online in Pennsylvania,” the Board stated. “The additions made today brought to 47 the total number of individuals who are currently on the iGaming Involuntary Exclusion List.”

Two more adults also added to the Involuntary Exclusion List

The Board said that through exclusion petitions filed by OEC, it has also acted to ban two adults from all casinos in the Commonwealth for leaving minors unattended in order to engage in gaming activities:

• A female patron was placed on the Involuntary Exclusion List after leaving an 11-year-old unattended in a vehicle while the outside temperature was 80 degrees in the parking garage of Live! Casino and Hotel Philadelphia for 40 minutes while she gambled at slot machines; and,
• Another female patron was placed on the Involuntary Exclusion List after leaving three minors ages 8, 9, and 13 unattended in a hotel room at the Mount Airy Casino Resort for 1 hour 48 minutes while she gambled at table games.

"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," the PGCB noted.

To complement the efforts by casinos to mitigate this issue, the Board created an awareness campaign, 'Don’t Gamble with Kids.'

The next meeting of the Board is scheduled for 10:00 AM, Wednesday, November 20th, 2024 in the Board’s Public Hearing Room located on the second floor of the Strawberry Square Complex in Harrisburg.