In Pennsylvania, residents can bet on sports from their smartphones. It’s one of the key reasons why the gambling industry continues to grow across the country. Sports betting is the most accessible it’s ever been. Making it incredibly easy to wager via a smartphone. At a Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) meeting on Wednesday, they found that a casino in their state illegally accepted bets via a phone call. The PGCB levied a $100,000 fine to Live! Casino and Hotel Philadelphia.
Along with the hefty fine, the bettor who placed wagers over the phone was placed on Pennsylvania’s involuntary exclusion list. The PGCB also added another 11 people to the state’s exclusion list for online casino fraud. Additionally, the PGCB denied removing two individuals from the list for leaving minors unattended in a vehicle. Those were two separate incidents. One in 2019 and another in 2022.
What did Live! Casino doing that was illegal?
Per the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, multiple Live! Casino employees accepted 15 bets totaling $287,421 over the phone. This happened over eight days. According to Pennsylvania regulations, bets taken from a phone call at an in-person casino are considered proxy bets, which are illegal. After Live! Casino found out about this incident, they fired the three employees who accepted over a quarter of a million in bets over the phone. The PGCB also removed their gaming employment licenses.
At the PGCB’s meeting on Wednesday, their Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement found that 11 people were involved in a fraudulent scheme. They were trying to access a gaming account that did not belong to them. If they did that successfully, funds would be withdrawn into their bank account without participating in any gaming activities. All 11 involved in the scheme were placed on the state’s exclusion list. Their violations included illegally requesting and receiving chargebacks to a credit card totaling $5,150. Creating five separate accounts using other IDs and withdrawing $6,195 into their account. Finally, 14 different accounts were created using IDs and they withdrew $8,595 into their bank account.
