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The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) has fined Wind Creek Bethlehem $125,000 for 10 incidents of underage individuals accessing the casino’s gaming floor.
These violations involved 11 individuals – aged 18-20 – over a 20-month period at the Northampton County casino.
The fine was approved during a public meeting where the Board’s Office of Enforcement Counsel (OEC) presented the consent agreement.
In addition to the fine, the Board also addressed cases of adults leaving minors unattended to gamble.
A male and female patron, for example, were placed on the Involuntary Exclusion List after leaving a 5-month-old child unattended in a running vehicle for 30 minutes while they gambled at Harrah’s Philadelphia Casino & Racetrack.
Another female patron’s request to be removed from the Involuntary Exclusion List was denied. She had left a 4-year-old child unattended in a non-running vehicle for 15 minutes at Rivers Philadelphia Casino in 2017, with the outside temperature at 95 degrees Fahrenheit.
The PGCB emphasised that leaving minors unattended at casinos not only creates a dangerous environment for the children but also subjects the responsible adults to potential criminal prosecution and exclusion from all Pennsylvania casinos.
To support these efforts, the Board has initiated an awareness campaign titled “Don’t Gamble with Kids.” The next PGCB meeting is scheduled for 26 June of this year at the Strawberry Square Complex in Harrisburg.
Similar punishments have been doled out by the PGCB in the past. In August 2022, for example, PGCB took action against two adults accused of leaving two children in a hotel room while they gambled in the adjoining casino.
