Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board fines several casinos a total of $284,000

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board fined three casino operators a total of $284,000 Wednesday for violating state regulations.

The consent agreements approved this week are as follows:

• Boyd Gaming Corporation, a $150,000 fine for failure to disclose facts relating to the  suitability of a principal.
  
  
• Mountainview Thoroughbred Racing Association, operator of Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course, two fines totaling $120,000, one for permitting a self-excluded patron to participate in gaming activity, become intoxicated, and cause damage to other vehicles, and the second for its failure to prevent circumvention of licensing requirements.
  
  
• Valley Forge Convention Center Partners, LLC, operator of Valley Forge Casino Resort, a $14,000 fine for an underage gaming incident.
  
  
• Sugarhouse HSP Gaming, LP, operator of Rivers Casino Philadelphia which received no fine but were mandated to implement additional security and surveillance requirements stemming from unattended children incidents.
  
  
• Snow Shoe Travel Plaza, Inc. and Pit Stop Travel Plaza, Inc., no fine but the surrender of two Video Gaming Terminal (VGT) establishment licenses and two principal licenses for non-adherence to various licensing requirements.

Details

The $150,000 fine against Boyd Gaming Corporation stemmed from the company’s failure to properly notify the PGCB of all pertinent facts regarding the reasons for the surrender of a Principal’s license in 2020, thereby hindering the Board’s suitability determination. Boyd Gaming holds licenses in Pennsylvania to operate casinos, iGaming and sports wagering.

The first of two fines against Mountainview Thoroughbred Racing Association was for $70,000 from an incident in which a patron who was on the PGCB’s self-exclusion list was permitted to gain entry to the gaming floor and participate in gaming activity in Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race course while also being served alcohol that led to intoxication and subsequent damage to vehicles by the patron while driving through the casino’s parking garage.

The $50,000 fine against Mountainview Thoroughbred Racing Association stemmed from occurrences where two employees, both since terminated, willfully funneled payments to gaming service providers that resulted in inaccurate disclosures to the PGCB and its Bureau of Licensing of lower payment amounts needed to determine the classification of some of its vendors. This resulted in the “under classification” of gaming service providers and lower license applications fees.

Valley Forge Convention Center Partners, LLC was fined $14,000 for permitting a 20-year-old male to gain access to the casino floor and gamble at table games.

The approved consent agreement with Sugarhouse HSP Gaming, LP stemmed from an incident in 2020 when an individual left two children, ages 2 and 4, in a parked vehicle in the Rivers Philadelphia Casino parking lot. The Board subsequently placed the individual on the involuntary exclusion list at its February 10, 2021 meeting and at that time raised numerous questions about how incidents of unattended children are handled at that casino.  In lieu of a fine, the Board approved a consent agreement wherein casino personnel are to submit to the PGCB for approval revised Internal Controls which address the specifics on how unattended minors, in vehicles or otherwise, will be handled by Rivers Philadelphia Casino personnel.

The final consent agreement resulted in the surrendering of VGT licenses in lieu of fines. In this instance, the operating licensing for one VGT Establishment with common ownership and two VGT Principal licenses were all surrendered with prejudice. The second VGT Establishment license was surrendered without prejudice. The establishments were Snow Shoe Travel Plaza in Snow Show, PA and Pit Stop Travel Plaza in Loganton, PA.

Copies of the approved Consent Agreements offering more detail on each of the matters are available upon request through the PGCB’s Office of Communications.

The next meeting of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board is scheduled for 10:00 a.m., Wednesday, July 14, 2021. The Board will announce prior to that date whether the meeting will be held online or in the PGCB’s Public Hearing Room located on the second floor of the Strawberry Square Complex in Harrisburg.