The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board has published its list of players who have been publicly excluded from casinos. The list was started in 2010, and now has the names of 809 players from across the state who have excluded from gambling venues across the state for casino-related offenses.
“The list consists of career or professional offenders, cheats and other individuals whose presence in a licensed facility would be inimical to the interest of the Commonwealth or of licensed gaming therein, or both,” reads a statement from the gaming board.
Making Offenders More Easily Identifiable
The PGB has been keeping a list of the all of the individuals who are guilty of casino-related offences for a decade now. However, this is the first time that the list has been made public, along with photos so that these individuals can easily be identified.
Most of the people on the list were found guilty of theft (213 individuals). The next most populous group consisted of those guilty of cheating (205 people), while 93 were found guilty of child endangerment and 85 were found to be taking part in underage gambling.
There are groups of individuals who were guilty of less common offenses. These include disorderly conduct, assisting underage guests, drug charges and using counterfeit money. People guilty of assault, trespassing and harassment were also on the list.
The most recently additions to the involuntary exclusion list are two players from Rivers Casino. They were found to be texting each other while at the table, sharing information about their cards to give each other an advantage over the other players. Around the same time, two players at the same venue were
Before players are placed on the list, they are noticed by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. They can then argue a case against being placed on the list. If they are still found guilty of their crime, they will be placed on the list for five years after which they can apply to be removed.
Now that these individuals have been placed on a public list, casino staff should have an easier time identifying them. If any individual looks suspicious, staff can simply check the list and determine whether or not they are barred from gambling venues across the state.
Now that Pennsylvania has legalized online gambling, there may need to be the creation for new categories on the list regarding remote gaming offences. However, the PGCB has yet to identify any players yet who have been engaged in illegal activities at online casinos and online poker sites.
