The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) has fined the operator of the renowned Valley Forge Casino Resort for being too generous by awarding excessive amounts of free slot play to its high roller customers. The violations, which are reported to have occurred between 2105 and 2016, were uncovered after a lengthy investigation that was conducted by the PGCB’s Bureau of Investigations and Enforcement.
As revealed by the investigators, unauthorized employees at the Valley Forge Casino Resort awarded free sot play within the period stipulated earlier. In addition to this, the investigations further revealed that even though some of the slot comps were awarded by authorized employees, these employees violated the state’s gaming regulations by awarding the free slot play beyond the authorized limits.
“Per regulation, each licensed facility in Pennsylvania is required to have in their internal controls a matrix of employees authorized to award complimentary services along with specific limits on the amount that may be authorized. An investigation by the PGCB’s Bureau of Investigations and Enforcement discovered that free slot play had been awarded during 2015 and 2016 by employees not authorized to do so or, if authorized, beyond limits of the authorization, which lead to total awards higher than an approved level,” the PGCB clarified in a press release.
To elaborate this, according to Philly.com, it was found that in 2015 and 2016 unauthorized staff performed 557 performed complimentary slot play transactions whose total worth went north of $400,000 – as many as 170 players received the free slot play awards with 20 high rollers being awarded 80 percent of the money. Furthermore, these transactions accounted for “less than 10% of the total amount of $5.2 million the casino awarded in free slots play during the period reviewed by state regulators.”
Consequentially, the casino ended up awarding amounts that were well above the level that had been approved by the Keystone State’s gambling regulator.
“We have absolute confidence that every one of these free-play transactions was issued to a real customer with a real business reason,” said Michael Fabius, Valley Forge Casino Resort’s lawyer.
Not the First Time
While the casino agreed to pay the fine despite arguing that that the transactions were genuine, this is not the first time that it has been on the spotlight. In 2013, Valley Forge was slapped with a $200,000 fine after it was revealed that it had offered Dining Club memberships through a special promotion with little to no financial considerations – the state’s gaming regulations stipulate that patrons are required to spend a minimum of $10 at any gambling establishment such as a casino in order to be allowed to play at the gaming floors.
