Sands Bethlehem Has Racked Up Over $500k In Underage Gambling Fines Since 2009
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As a result, Sands Bethlehem Casino paid $100,000 in fines to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board; the largest fine for underage gambling Sands has paid to date.
Sands is no stranger to fines for underage gambling, as the casino has tallied over $500,000 in fines specifically for underage access from the PGCB since opening its doors in 2009.
Why was Sands fined?
The most recent incidents the PGCB fined Sands Bethlehem for were:
- A 19-year-old male and a 17-year-old female gained access to the gaming floor and both wagered at slot machines;
- A 17-year-old male gained access to the gaming floor and wagered at slot machines;
- A 20-year-old female gained access to the gaming floor and wagered at slot machines;
- A 17-year-old male gained access to the gaming floor and wagered at table games;
- A 20-year-old male gained access to the gaming floor and wagered at table games;
- A 17-year-old male gained access to the gaming floor and wagered at slot machines;
- A 16-year-old female gained access to the gaming floor and wagered at a slot machine and sat at a table game while her father gamed;
- A 20-year-old female gained access to the gaming floor and wagered at both slot machines and table games while also consuming an alcoholic beverage;
- An 18-year-old female gained access to the gaming floor and wagered at slot machines; and,
- A 20-year-old female gained access to the gaming floor on three occasions on a single day and wagered at slot machines while also consuming an alcoholic beverage.
The two that really jump out are the 16-year-old and the 20-year-old who gained accessed the Sands Bethlehem floor three times in the same day.
[i15-table tableid=20717][i15-table tableid=20680]Here’s why this is a story
Every casino can be breached by underage gamblers, no matter how good security is. Sands is not the only Pennsylvania casino that is whacked with fines, however, we do single them out specifically.
What makes Sands’ struggles newsworthy is the stance of Las Vegas Sands Chairman Sheldon Adelson towards online gambling. In his anti-online gambling soliloquies, Adelson and his talking heads routinely state that online gambling sites cannot keep minors from gaining access. Or at least not as well as his land-based casino properties can.
Stopping underage gambling is a serious matter. Both land-based casinos and online casinos do an excellent job policing for the most part. That being said, no matter what safeguards are put in place, nothing is foolproof, as Adelson’s employees tell the PGCB.
“Anytime a minor is on the casino floor, we take it very seriously. We’ve had a couple where underage folks were aided by a family member,” Sands Vice President and General Counsel Michael Magazzu told the PGCB. “Even with the best technology, it’s very difficult to prevent those types of entries.”
Why does Adelson think it’s so difficult to police online gambling?
Adelson uses “family assistance” and technology as his two main talking points to denigrate online gambling.
Adelson likes to conjure images of an adult creating an account online and handing it off to a kid.
And despite no known instances of underage gambling at licensed online sites, Adelson constantly question the efficacy of the technology.
In a 2013 Forbes article Adelson was paraphrased as saying:
“He claims that there is no efficient technological way to stop minors or those suffering from alcohol or other substance abuse problems from gambling online, but that land-based casinos can prevent issues like money-laundering and stop people who should not be gambling from engaging in it.”
Las Vegas Sands Senior VP of Government Relations, Andy Abboud submitted testimony for a 2015 Pennsylvania hearing where we stated:
“Don’t be fooled by the technology companies that come before this committee today or in the future promising internet technology that will be able to prevent kids from getting online to gamble – because it is nearly impossible to prevent minors from gambling online.”
Upshot
Essentially, Adelson expects 100 percent success rate preventing underage online gambling. On the other hand, he doesn’t hold his own casinos to the same unattainable standard.
Scoreboard
Our tally of Sands Bethlehem’s fines is 53 instances of underage gambling and/or drinking, which has cost the casino $530,000.
- In 2009 and 2010, Sands Bethlehem paid $48,000 in fines for six separate instances of underage gambling.
- Over the course of 2010 and 2011, there were four more documented cases of underage gambling which resulted in Sands Bethlehem paying a $48,000 fine.
- For violations that occurred in 2012, Sands paid another $68,000 in fines for six underage gambling offenses.
- 2013 saw Sands hit with $56,000 in fines for four instances underage gambling violations.
- In 2014, Sands paid its largest fine to date, an $85,000 penalty after six more instances of underage gambling were discovered.
- Sometime in early 2016, Sands was fined $36,000 for three underage gambling incidents that occurred in 2015.
- In August 2016 Sands was fined $39,000 for three underage gambling violations.
- January 2017, Sands was fined $50,000 for four separate incidents from 2016, involving five underage gamblers.
- And the most recent examples, where Sands was slapped with a $100,000 fine for the 10 instances noted above.