Pa. Casino Regulators to Crack Down on Underage Gambling

The Gaming Control Board is signaling plans to take a harder line against casinos for underage gambling violations.

KYW's Tony Romeo reports that the Gaming Control Board has rejected a proposed settlement that would have seen Harrah's in Chester pay $58,000 for a series of seven incidents between October and March involving females, all age 20 except for one 19-year-old, who gained access to the gaming floor.

The board's chief enforcement attorney, Cyrus Pitre, said the problem is occurring at casinos across the state, and while that's not any different than other jurisdictions, with table games now in the mix, he's contemplating stronger action:

"I'm entertaining the idea of maybe implementing turnstiles for 30 or 60 days at various casinos when they seem like they're having a problem keeping up with catching these underage individuals."

One board member said it's obvious that up till now, the fines haven't been sufficient to get casinos' attention, and the Harrah's settlement was rejected as too low.