The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board is a governmental agency of the Commonwealth of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, founded in 2004 as the state licensing and the regulatory agency responsible for overseeing

slot machine A slot machine, fruit machine (British English), poker machine or pokie (Australian English and New Zealand English) is a gambling machine that creates a game of chance for its customers. A slot machine's standard layout features a screen disp ...

s and

casino A casino is a facility for gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shops, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos also host live entertainment, such as stand-up comedy, conce ...

gambling in the state. The first completely new agency created in Pennsylvania in over 30 years, the PGCB administers the Pennsylvania Race Horse Development and Gaming Act, also known as "Act 71", and its regulations to assure public trust and confidence in the credibility and integrity of casinos in Pennsylvania. The Board also acts to fulfill "the objectives of limited gaming in the Commonwealth to deliver a significant source of revenue, assist the horse racing industry, provide broad economic opportunities, and enhance tourism." The PGCB does not oversee games of chance in the Commonwealth such as the

Pennsylvania Lottery The Pennsylvania Lottery is a lottery operated by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It was created by the Pennsylvania General Assembly on August 26, 1971; two months later, Henry Kaplan was appointed as its first executive director. The Pennsy ...

or other permitted games of chance at clubs and non-profit organizations. In December 2020, Pennsylvania became the first state to use a self-exclusion tool for online gamblers. In Pennsylvania, about 200,000 gamblers have had problem gaming issues.

Composition

The board consists of seven voting members, three of which are appointed by the

Governor of Pennsylvania The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

and four of which are appointed by the leadership of the

Pennsylvania General Assembly The Pennsylvania General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The legislature convenes in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. In colonial times (1682–1776), the legislature was known as the Pennsylvani ...

. By statute, the State Treasurer, Secretary of Revenue, and Secretary of Agriculture are non-voting ''

ex officio An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, or council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term '' ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by r ...

'' members. Former commissioner Merritt C. Reitzel was appointed by

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

Joe Scarnati for a two-year term in 2017 and was re-appointed in 2019.

Notable board members

* Jeffrey Coy (2004–2006) * Gregory Fajt (Chairman, 2009–2011) * Richard G. Jewell * Keith R. McCall * William H. Ryan, Jr. (Chairman, 2011–2015) * Gary Allan Sojka

Duties

Among other duties, the Board operates a slot-machine testing laboratory. Located in the Board's

Harrisburg Harrisburg ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat, seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50, ...

office, the laboratory was established in September 2008. Board employees at the lab test various models of slot machines against regulations. The PGCB also set up an Office of Compulsive and Problem Gambling devoted to "understanding and alleviating the devastating effects of pathological gambling." Under PGCB's regulations, gambling facilities in the state must submit and have approved a compulsive-and-problem-gambling plan before starting gambling operations. These plans must include items such as employee training when dealing with compulsive gamblers, self-exclusion plans and how to handle people who want to be on Pennsylvania's self-exclusion list, the responsibility of patrons with respect to responsible gambling, the availability of printed material and signage throughout the casino, and procedures to prevent intoxicated and underage gambling.

Funding and support

The PGCB's funding is from several sources, none directly from taxpayers. The largest funding mechanism is from slot machine revenues, but only after deduction of appropriate taxes that are transferred to a number of recipients: * the local and county governments that host a facility * the horse racing industry * economic development and tourism efforts, and * a State Gaming Fund which primarily provides revenues to school districts which, in turn, use toward the lowering of local property taxes. In addition, the PGCB bills applicants for investigative costs associated with securing any type of license and manufacturers of slot machines and related goods who seek approval of equipment to be used in casinos. The Gaming Act also requires a role in gaming oversight by the State Police, Department of Revenue and Attorney General, whose costs are also reimbursed from slot machine revenues.

References

External links

Pennsylvania Gaming Control BoardPA Gaming Control Board Fines Casino for Underage Gambling Violations
{{authority control

Gaming Control Board A gaming control board (GCB), also called by various names including gambling control board, casino control board, gambling board, and gaming commission, is a government agency charged with Regulation, regulating casino and other types of gaming i ...