HARRISBURG: The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board today approved for public comment an amendment to its regulations that will increase the public visibility of the licensing process while honoring the confidentiality provisions of the Gaming Act.

The amendment, the second of a package of regulatory updates adopted by the Board, adds two new provisions to existing procedures for slot license hearings. These provisions, which will be posted on the Board web site for 30-day public comment after approval by the Pennsylvania Attorney General, will:

HARRISBURG: The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board today announced a schedule of Public Input Hearings for a Category 1 slots casino at a horse race track in Lawrence County and three applicants for two available Category 3 slots casino licenses at existing resorts.

Under the Pennsylvania Race Horse Development and Gaming Act, these Public Input Hearings must be held in the municipality where the facility will be located and organized in cooperation with the municipality. The schedule is as follows:

Category 1 Slot Machine License

HARRISBURG: Nanette Horner, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board's Director of Compulsive and Problem Gambling, has been appointed to the Responsible Gaming Committee for the International Masters of Gaming Law (IMGL).

Horner, who joined the Board's Office of Chief Counsel in 2005, was named the first Director of the Office of Compulsive and Problem Gambling in September, 2006.

Gaming Control Board Chairman Mary DiGiacomo Colins says Nan Horner's participation in this important committee falls in lockstep with a chief goal of this agency.

HARRISBURG: Susan Hensel, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board’s Director of Licensing, has been appointed Executive Secretary of the International Association of Gaming Regulators (IAGR). The two-year appointment was made by IAGR Chair Dennis Neilander, the current Chairman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board. Hensel replaces Alicia Gibson of South Africa.

Neilander stated that he wished to thank Susan for accepting the position as Executive Secretary and the state of Pennsylvania for allowing her to fill this important and demanding position.

HARRISBURG: During "Problem Gambling Awareness Week" March 9th through 15th, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board encourages anyone who thinks they may have a gambling problem to seek help and consider taking advantage of the voluntary Self-Exclusion Program. This program permits an individual to voluntarily request to be excluded from all gaming activities at all licensed slot machine facilities within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for one year, five years or a lifetime.

HARRISBURG: Recognizing the effects problem gambling can have on citizens, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board is actively promoting National Problem Gambling Awareness Week, March 9 through 15, 2008 with outreach efforts and helpful information.

In addition, Governor Rendell, the House and Senate of Pennsylvania, the Gaming Control Board and the Secretaries of Agriculture, Health and Revenue have all proclaimed that week as “Problem Gambling Awareness Week” in the Commonwealth.

HARRISBURG: The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board announced today that it has cancelled its Thursday, March 13, 2008 meeting.

In addition, the next regularly scheduled meeting on March 27, 2008 will now begin at 12:00 noon in Hearing Room #1 in the North Office Building in Harrisburg.

HARRISBURG, PA: The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board has released its first diversity study of the Commonwealth’s gaming industry.

The report, required under the Pennsylvania Racehorse Development and Gaming Act, outlines the actions taken by licensed slots gaming facilities to enhance the representation of diverse groups in the ownership and employment of its businesses and in associated enterprises that provide goods and services.

HARRISBURG: The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board today approved three new grant requests totaling $200,444 to local law enforcement agencies to fund programs designed to thwart the operation of illegal slot machines in the Commonwealth.

HARRISBURG: Speaker of the House John M. Perzel (R-Philadelphia) today named Philadelphia businessman and former chairman of the Pennsylvania State Ethics Commission Joseph W. "Chip" Marshall III as his appointee to the Pennsylvania State Gaming Control Board.