Ira Lubert's Valley Forge
Casino Resort on Wednesday was fined $200,000 by the Pennsylvania Gaming
Control Board for violating regulations on special offers to attract customers.
The fine was the biggest
single fine yet levied by the board.
The hearing in Harrisburg
included a testy statement by board chairman William H. Ryan, who accused
Valley Forge of intentionally violating regulations to get around the rules
governing the type of casino operated by Lubert, a prominent venture capitalist
and real-estate investor.
"I believe this was
an intentional attempt to avoid admittedly difficult, cumbersome access
restrictions," Ryan said. "The intent here was to get people into the
casino without having to deal with those cumbersome access restrictions."
That prompted Lubert, who
sat beside his attorney during the hearing, to speak for the first time.
Lubert, who is in the
group of investors who want to build a casino at Eighth and Market Streets in
Center City, said Valley Forge had started the Lucky Day promotion because it
passed muster with its lawyer.
"This is
reputational for me," Lubert said. "It's very important for me to
just let you know that it was not intentional."
The board decided that
Valley Forge should pay the entire $200,000 within 30 days, rather than in four
payments, as first negotiated by the office of enforcement counsel.
The fine was levied for a
promotional program that offered seasonal and annual dining club memberships
for free or at a discount, even though the law requires visitors to the Valley
Forge casino to spend at least $10 in the resort to access the gambling area.
David La Torre, a
spokesman for Valley Forge, said the casino has worked hard to comply with the
law. "The law's requirement that a patron must pay $10 before entering the
casino continues to be perceived as overwhelmingly negative by our customers.
In fact, upon learning of the access requirement, many have left our casino in
protest," he said.
That has hurt revenues,
including funds for property tax relief, he said.
In another matter, the
gaming board approved a consent agreement for SugarHouse Casino to pay a
$20,000 fine for allowing a patron on its "self-exclusion" list to
continue gambling.
SugarHouse also has
pledged to improve its procedures for detecting compulsive gamblers. A lawyer
for SugarHouse, Michael Sklar, told commissioners that if a patron is observed
in the casino for 24 hours, dealers are instructed to notify the surveillance
office, which would then see if the person is on a self-exclusion list.
Gaming patrons can
voluntarily put themselves on the list, which bans them from casinos. The
action against SugarHouse was prompted by the ability of a Philadelphia man,
Kylee Bryant, to engage in marathon gambling sessions on three occasions
despite being on the list.
Source: Philly.com
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