PGCB Bans Four Adults from Visiting State Casinos

This is the latest regulatory action to target irresponsible adults who abandoned young children unattended while they were gambling at a casino in the Keystone State. The commission convened on Wednesday, January 25, and decided to prohibit the four adults who were found to have left children on the premises of casino properties unattended.

More Adults Put on the PGCB’s Involuntary Exclusion List

This adds to an already long list of similar accidents with the PGCB sending an unequivocal message that it will act strictly in such instances. With the latest decision, the watchdog has grown its Involuntary Exclusion List, which is reserved for serious offenders who breach the state’s gambling laws.

The PGCB has not shied away from detailing the incidents involving the adults and the children. In one instance, a man left five children unattended at the Valley Forge Casino Resort, one of which was an infant.

The children were on their own for an hour and 12 minutes while the man was playing slots inside. The same property also involved another case where a 12-year-old was left unattended in the parking lot, with the man put on the list as swell.

In another instance, a man left a 13-year-old unattended at the parking garage of Harrah’s Philadelphia Casino and Racetrack. The man first attempted to take the child inside but was denied entry. He left the child alone for 15 minutes before he was discovered. Meanwhile, a woman left a two-year-old and a 14-year-old unattended at the Mohegan Pennsylvania Casino in Wilkes-Barre.

Past Offenders Do Not Find Reprieve

The PGCB also denied two previous offenders registered in 2020 the right to get off the list. The latest enforcement action is issued as a stern reminder that the PGCB will act in any instance where young children are left unattended on the premises of casinos.

While the latest enforcement does not specifically name the casinos as responsible, nor has it issued fines, the PGCB in general considers casino properties to be partly responsible for ensuring that such accidents do not happen.

Many facilities have stepped up their surveillance and patrolling of parking lots in order to ensure that no children are left unattended.