The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) has imposed a monetary fine on Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment, which operates Parx Casino, for allowing an underage individual to enter its premises and even gamble.
Furthermore, the gambling watchdog also took action against three parents who were found to have left their children unattended in the parking lot while placing wagers at a casino. The state’s gambling regulatory body has not revealed the names of the casinos involved.
Underage Player Enters Parx Casino Unbothered, Then Sets Off Firecrackers in Parking Lot
At a public meeting that took place in the middle of the week, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board imposed a $12,500 fine to the Bucks County casino for allowing an underage individual to enter its premises. The 18-year-old managed to slip by casino security guards while they were administering some Covid-19 protocols, entered the casino and even played 6 different slot machines and spent less than an hour inside.
Currently, under Pennsylvania gambling laws, it is illegal for people under the age of 21 to gamble and even to enter a casino.
The teenager’s behavior and identity were discovered after he left the casino on September 16th, 2020 and started setting off firecrackers while driving around the venue’s parking lot for about 10 minutes. That was when the casino learned that the young gambler was actually under the age of 21 and reported the incident to the state’s gambling watchdog.
The young person’s identity was not unveiled in the consent agreement with the casino. Later, he pleaded guilty to summary violation of gambling laws by entering a casino and disorderly conduct. Parx Casino also suspended him from its properties on a permanent basis.
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board imposed a $12,500 penalty, which included a $10,000 fine and $2,500 in administrative costs, to the casino.
Pennsylvania’s Gambling Watchdog Deals with Three Cases of Irresponsible Parents
As mentioned above, the gambling regulator of the Keystone State also had to deal with three separate cases of irresponsible parents, who had left their children in the parking lots while had entered a casino themselves. The names of the casinos involved were not disclosed by the PGCB.
The first case was considered the most minor of the three instances of child neglect. The parent of an 11-year-old had left their child in the car while entering a gambling venue to redeem a sportsbook ticket. Another parent left two children, one aged 8 and the other aged 5, in the car while entering a gambling facility where they bet at a craps table. The third case, which was considered the one involving the most serious parental neglect involved a parent who left four children aged between 2 and 13 unattended and went to watch a friend of theirs who was playing at a craps table.
Currently, the three parents are facing criminal charges for their actions. In addition, they have been put on the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board’s Involuntary Exclusion List that would make them unable to enter the casinos across the state and play there.
