May 19, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PENN NATIONAL FINED $800,000 IN ILLINOIS
FOR MARKETING TO GAMBLING ADDICTS

THIRD VIOLATION FOR A PENN NATIONAL CASINO

PORTLAND – A casino in Illinois operated by Penn National Gaming was fined $800,000 on Monday and three managers were suspended for mailing promotional materials and casino coupons to problem gamblers who had asked to be banned from the casino.

The $800,000 fine against Hollywood Casino in Aurora, IL was the largest penalty to date levied by the Illinois Gambling Board for an infraction involving the self-exclusion program, and the second time the casino has been fined for violating the self-exclusion program. In 2006, Hollywood Casino was fined $200,000 after it again failed to exclude problem gamblers from the casino. In 2005, another Penn National casino, the Empress Casino in Joliet, IL, was fined $600,000 for also mailing promotional materials to self-identified gambling addicts.

The repeat infractions reveal a dirty secret of the casino industry, said Dennis Bailey, executive director of CasinosNO!

“Just like tobacco companies are dependent on addicts for their revenue, casinos depend on gambling addicts for theirs,” Bailey said. “Research has shown that more than half of a casino’s revenue comes from problem or pathological gamblers, people who can’t control themselves and return to play the slots night after night. These repeat infractions suggests the casinos don't take the self-exclusion program very seriously, and violating the rules by marketing to addicts is simply a cost of doing business.”

Penn National owns and operates Hollywood Slots in Bangor. It also maintains a self-exclusion list of people who have requested to be banned from the casino. As of last fall, nearly 100 people had signed on to the list, some for life. Nevertheless, casino officials say that the problem gamblers often show up and try to enter the casino wearing disguises.

“That shows that we need to strengthen the self-exclusion program,” Bailey said. “People should be required to show a valid photo ID to get into the casino, which would be checked against the self-exclusion list.”

The latest violations in Illinois occurred when Hollywood Casino rented a list of names from a firm that operates ATM machines at Illinois casinos. In January, the casino mailed promotional materials, including coupons to use at Hollywood Casino, to nearly 15,900 people identified as prospective customers. But the casino’s marketing department failed to check the list against the names of people enrolled in the self-exclusion program. The Gambling Board said 146 people in the program received the mailing.

Penn National officials maintained that when the company discovered its "error," it then reported it to the Gaming Board. But Board officials say they investigated after receiving numerous complaints from problem gamblers who had received the promotional materials and enticements from the casino.

The fact that the company mailed promotional materials to a list of people who used ATMs at casinos also raises questions, Bailey said. "Many people who go to an ATM at a casino have gone over their limit and spent all the cash they came in with," he said. "It's a ready-made list of potential problem gamblers."

An article on the latest fine can be found HERE.

CONTACT: Dennis Bailey, 207-347-6077