Pennsylvania Casino Allowed 13-Year-Old Boy to Gamble for Hours

After letting a 13-year-old boy play slots for over six hours, a Pennsylvania casino is facing criticism.

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) has fined Valley Forge Casino Resort's operator $30K for allowing the young youngster to onto its gaming floor, in what is undoubtedly one of the more serious regulatory infractions Casino.org has recently documented.

A 32-year-old father and his 13-year-old son, who was born on December 20, 2010, came in the Boyd Gaming-run casino on November 17, 2024, at 1:47 pm, according to the PGCB.

Security staff at Valley Forge Casino Resort first had trouble scanning the father's identity, according to the state's investigation into the incident. A second security guard took the father's ID to another scanner after the first one failed to scan it, and this time it was correctly processed.

“After scanning the identification, the second security officer returned the identification to the father, believing the father had presented the identification and then permitted the underage individual and his father to enter the gaming floor,” the PGCB account detailed.

13-Year-Old Cashes and Gambles

The PGCB's Office of Enforcement Counsel (OEC) stated in the settlement agreement that the father and son bet on the Valley Forge Casino floor for almost six hours until around 7:50 p.m. In addition to "watching his father gamble most of this time," the boy also played games with his father "by putting money into slot machines, cashing out vouchers, and actively gaming at multiple slot machines with his father."

The father provided the 13-year-old $600 in cash to gamble, according to the OEC's findings, which were supported by casino surveillance. Over the course of the six hours, the teenager ultimately inserted $1,040 into slots, including the $600 and $440 in gaming winnings via vouchers. The teenager was seen using five slot machines and wagering $1,640 during that time, according to casino surveillance.

The teenager was given a soda and a beer by the casino waitstaff, but his father was given the alcoholic beverage. According to the PGCB, there is no proof that the 13-year-old drank alcohol while in the casino area.

When the father and son attempted to enter the casino again the next morning at approximately 8:16 am, their IDs were correctly scanned, and the son was turned away. After a follow-up inquiry, the casino found that there had been misconduct the day before.

Corrective Actions 

Management at Valley Forge Casino Resort notified the Bureau of Casino Compliance of the event right away. The two security guards implicated in the underage access breach received "final written warnings" from the casino, bypassing the three stages of disciplinary action in the progressive punishment system (written warning, documented verbal warning, and verbal coaching).

As an additional precaution, refresher training was mandated for all casino security staff. Warnings were also issued to other casino employees who had contact with the minor or were in close vicinity.

Boyd Gaming has settled the $30K civil penalty, with $2,500 going toward the state's legal fees. The General Fund, which funds a range of public services, receives the majority of the funds.

The father entered a guilty plea to a summary charge of "illegally permitting persons under 21." The youngster was charged with two summaries: "unlawful for a person under 21 to wager/play slots" and "unlawful to enter and remain in a facility under 21 years of age." His disposition is not made public because he is a minor.