The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) unanimously approved a Category 4 slot machine license for SC Gaming OpCo LLC to construct a new casino in College Township, Centre County.
The $35 million casino will be operated by Bally’s Corporation and create 350 construction jobs and 350 new jobs. It’s expected to open 12 months after construction begins; no start date has been announced yet.
The casino will be located in the 94,000-square-foot former Macy’s department store at the Nittany Mall on College Avenue. The venue will feature a gaming floor with 750 slot machines and 30 table games, plus a sportsbook, performance stage and quick-serve food and beverage outlets.
Also in Pennsylvania, the PGCB’s Office of Enforcement Counsel recently fined three casinos a total of $67,500 for various violations, according to a departmental report.
Downs Racing L.P., operator of Mohegan Pennsylvania, was fined $50,000 for allowing individuals under age 21 onto the gaming floor. One person gained access multiple times to gamble and another individual gained access and was served alcohol. Holdings Acquisition L.P., operator of Rivers Casino Pittsburgh, was fined $10,000 for allowing an individual under age 21 to enter the gaming floor and to gamble. Sugarhouse HSP Gaming L.P., operator of Rivers Casino Philadelphia, was fined $7,500 for allowing an untrained employee to deal roulette.
The board also banned seven adults from all casinos in the state for leaving minors unattended so the adults could gamble in the casinos, thereby creating potentially unsafe situations for those children. These offenses include:
- Parents left their 9-year-old child unattended in a hotel room at Mt. Airy Casino Resort for a total of 7 hours 48 minutes over a 2 ½ day period so they could gamble.
- A male patron left a 5-year-old child unattended in a vehicle in the parking garage at Rivers Casino Philadelphia for 35 to gamble at the sportsbook.
- A male patron left a 3-year-old child unattended in a vehicle in the parking lot of Live! Philadelphia Hotel and Casino for 10 minutes while he gambled in the sportsbook.
- A female patron left four children, ages 2, 10, 13, and 13, unattended in a vehicle in the parking garage at Rivers Casino Pittsburgh for 40 minutes to watch an acquaintance gamble.
- A male patron left a 7-year-old child unattended in a vehicle in the parking lot at Parx Casino Bensalem for 23 minutes to gamble in the sportsbook and play a slot machine.
- A male patron left an 11-month-old child unattended in a vehicle in the parking lot at Rivers Casino Philadelphia for 42 minutes to gamble at table games.
According to the report, the board reported 397 incidents of adults leaving 633 minors unattended to gamble at Pennsylvania casinos from January 2022 through June 2023.
