Gambling in Pennsylvania

Due to a lack of majority,  the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board did not vote to award another casino license.  Fernwood Hotel and Resort, Nemacolin Woodlands Resort, Penn National Gaming and Mason-Dixon Resort all have applications in for a gaming license.

One of the reasons for a lack of majority seems to be that the gaming board are going to wait until new board members are appointed.  A good portion of the current board members terms are going to be expiring by the 20th of January.

The gaming board is also waiting for a state Supreme Court ruling from a challenge by the Philadelphia Part casino to casino license awarded to Valley Forge Hotel and Convention Center back in 2009.  The Philadelphia Part casino had concerns about adding a casino to their market which they feel is over saturated.

Mount Airy Casino received approval from Pennsylvania state gambling regulators to reduce their total number of slot machines by 150 leaving them with 2,275 slot machines on their floor.

Slot machine competition has been rough for Mount Airy since the Sands Casino Resort in Bethelehem opened up in 2009.  This has brought more competition to Mount Airy.

Wendy Wilson a spokeswoman from Mount Airy also stated that the removal of the slot machines makes their gaming floor less crowded.  Attorney Michael Sklar from Mount Airy also stated that this would not lead to job layoff at the casino.

Mount Airy intends to use the parts from the removed slot machines to refurbish older slot machines that are in use.

Mount Airy Casino Resort will receive a $35 million loan from financial guarantor Louis A. DeNaples to pay for their table games expansion.

The state Gaming Control Board approved the loan Tuesday, which will underwrite improvements to the casino to make way for poker and blackjack tables as well as pay for renovations to the casino’s golf course and parking lots.  Part of the loan will also go to cover the $16.5 million state license fee the casino must pay to operate table games.

Last year, DeNaples had his slots license restored after the dismissal of perjury charges against him.  However, terms of this restoration prevent him from profiting from this loan by receiving casino revenues or any other type of compensation.  He turned the control of Mount Airy to trusteeships run by his children, includging daughter Lisa DeNaples, D.M.D. who is the Mount Airy Casino Resort’s chief operating officer

In addition to the DeNaples loan, the gaming board also approved new changes to the casinos’ credit agreements with JP Morgan Chase Bank, a chief lender.

The Monroe campus of Northampton Community College saw almost 100 people register for its blackjack, poker, and craps dealer training courses, which began this week.  NCC Monroe Campus Dean Matt Connell said the college even added an additional blackjack section to help meet student demand.

With a downturned economy, many people are looking for new careers and casino careers are hot right now.  One student learning how to deal is Shawn Kunz of Cresco.  After 30 unsuccessful interviews, Kunz, a married father of two, is hoping to change his luck with a casino career.  Kunz said, “The market is pretty thin. There’s a lot of competition. A lot of people have been laid off. It’s hard for a 26 year old to get a job when people out there have a lot more experience.”

Students are taught in a classroom that has table, chips, and cards, just like a real casino.  It takes an individual six weeks to learn blackjack, six weeks to learn poker, and 12 weeks to learn craps.  After completing training, students receive certificates, making them eligible to work in any casino in the country.

Kunz plans to learn all the table games, in hopes of having a better chance of finding work at Mount Airy Casino Resort when table games are added.  He says his wife keeps telling him that these courses are a “blessing in disguise” and that the other jobs didn’t pan out because this was “meant to be.”

Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs saw its request for table games approved Tuesday by the Pennsylvania Gaming Board.  The casino is hoping to have the 83 table games in place by late spring or early summer.  Casino President Robert Soper said, “We were expecting it. There was a little hint of relief from it that we were able to clear this hurdle but there’s still a ways to go.”

Greg Fajt, chairman of the Gaming Control Board, said that Mohegan must meet several obligations, including approval of staffing and gaming floor plans.  The casino also needs to have enough security for the table games as well as policies and procedures in place.  The casino also plans to renovate the gaming floor area and set up background checks for new hires.  Last week, the casino opened a free dealer school which has 350 students already enrolled.

The new table games are expected to create approximately 600 new jobs, including 86 new floor supervisors, and produce more than $6 million in revenue.  Floor supervisors will be on the lookout for cheaters as well as making sure the table game dealers are following the rules.

Once it receives final approval, Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs will be one of the first casinos in Pennsylvania to offer table games.  The state license fee for the table games will cost the casino $16.5 million.

Some customers think the addition of table games will improve business.  Rob Bohr of Olyphant said, “I think there will be a lot more people coming in to the casino now. A lot of our friends won’t come because it’s just slot machines.”

This past Monday, Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs became the first casino in Pennsylvania to open a dealer school last.  More than 350 people, including 125 current casino employees, have signed up for the free-of-charge classes that teach them how to deal at casino table games.

The classes run Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. and can last for six to 12 weeks.  The wide time slot is to accommodate varying student schedules.  During school, seven current casino dealers teach students such table games as blackjack, roulette, craps, and Spanish 21 tables.  Students also have the option to become certified dealers in more than one game.

Dealers make between $15 and $25 an hour not counting tips from gamblers.  Tara Kojsza is one of the many who signed up to attend the school.  The 34-year-old worked as a pharmaceutical sales rep, but after being out of work for three years, she is looking for a new career.  “I always thought about doing this,” she said Kojsza, “I thought it would be extremely fun. I thought it would be an awesome job. You get to meet different people.”

Fifty-six year old Donna DiMattia, already a beverage supervisor and server at the casino clubhouse, also signed up for classes.  She said, “I like change, and I think this is going to be great.  I look forward to meeting new people and having a good time. I meet a lot of people now but I think this is going to be better.”

Part of the reason the casino opened this new school was because it applied in January to add 83 new gaming tables and if that is approved by the Gaming Control Board, the casino will need dealers to run the new tables.

If the extra 83 tables are added at the casino, it will create more than 500 new jobs, with 96 percent of those being filled by local residents.  Jeff Walker, the vice president of table games at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, said of the school, “It’s great for the local community.  It will stimulate the local economy.”

The Mount Airy Casino in Penn. has been hit with a record fine of $100,000 for allowing underage customers to play slot machines and consume alcohol then failing to report the cases to state officials.  Between July and November 2009, there were five separate incidents of underage gambling involving six customers between the ages of 18 and 20.  The legal gambling age is 21.

Officials such as the Gaming Control Board Chairman Gregory Fajt and Commissioner Gary Sojka noted that the Mount Airy Casino security staff failed to report underage gamblers to the board compliance officers and the Pennsylvania State Police.  Fajt and Sojka felt the severity of this offense warranted the stiff fine, which was approved unanimously by the gaming board.  Fajt said, “The underreporting is absolutely inexcusable” and “not something we will tolerate.”  Sojka said, he hoped the fine “sends a clear message to Mount Airy.”  The infraction resulted in the firing of one security guard.

In addition to the fine issued by the gaming board, the consent order also requires the casino to purchase eight electronic devices which scan driver’s licenses and photo ID to help prevent underage gamblers from entering the casino.

The casino’s security policy has been changed to one of zero tolerance.  This new policy has resulted in the apprehension of one underage gambler who reached the casino floor last week.

Matthew Magda, the vice president of Mount Airy’s resort operations, said that the casino had 1.2 million visitors last year and it was unfortunate that some underage customers snuck into the gaming floor.  “Our goal moving forward is to prevent that from happening again, and if it does, we will remove them from the floor right away and then immediately alert the gaming control board,” he said.

Before this, the largest fine levied for underage gambling in the state was $97,500 against the Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs Casino in Wilkes-Barre, Penn.  The fine was due to 15 separate incidences of underage gambling between August 2008 and March 2009.