Gaming Control Board Levies Fines

HARRISBURG, PA:  The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) today fined two licensees related to the theft of Video Gaming Terminals (VGTs) at a truck stop and an iGaming certificate holder that allowed deployment of unapproved online games.

The fines, totaling $17,500, were the result of Board approval at its public meeting of consent agreements between the PGCB’s Office of Enforcement Counsel and the license holders.

A fine of $7,500 was levied against VGT Terminal Operator Second Street Gaming, LLC and one of $5,000 against VGT Establishment Licensee Love’s Travel Stops & County Stores, Inc. stemming from an August 2020 theft of a total of $3,202.81 of cash and cash equivalents. In this incident, a patron, who has since been arrested, was in Video Gaming Area of the Loves Travel Stop in Mifflinville for over 3 hours and gained access to the cash box in the machine without video detection from either of the license holders.

The third fine was for $5,000 and levied against Greenwood Gaming & Entertainment, Inc. operator of the Parx Casino and an iGaming certificate holder. The fine stemmed from the accidental deployment by an employee of GAN plc, an iGaming partner of Parx, of two interactive slot machine games from a test environment into a production. This allowed the games to go “live” resulting in these games being played by patrons prior to PGCB authorization to commence interactive games.

The next meeting of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board is scheduled for 10:00 a.m., Wednesday, May 19, 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.

About the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board is tasked to oversee all aspects of gambling at 14 land-based casinos, online casino games, retail and online sports wagering, and Video Gaming Terminals (VGTs) at qualified truck stops, along with the regulation of online fantasy sports contests.

The land-based casino industry in Pennsylvania consists of six racetrack (Category 1) casinos, five stand-alone (Category 2) casinos, two resort (Category 3) casinos and one mini-casino (Category 4).  Casino expansion will continue over the next couple of years with the anticipated openings of up to four additional Category 4 casinos. A significant job generator in the Commonwealth, casinos and the other types of Board-regulated gaming annually generate over $1.5 billion in tax revenue.

Additional information about both the PGCB’s gaming regulatory efforts and Pennsylvania’s gaming industry can be found at https://gamingcontrolboard.pa.gov/  . You can also follow the agency on Twitter by choosing @PAGamingControl.