With new casinos on their way in Pennsylvania, the state Gaming Control Board wanted to make it very clear that underage gambling will not be tolerated. That could be a reason they fined Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment Inc. the USD 24,000 this past week. The fine comes on the heels of two instances where state police found the underage gamblers. The first involved a 20 year old who was playing slots for more than an hour.

Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania – The state-appointed trustee running Mount Airy Casino Resort wants indicted owner Louis DeNaples to pay some of the casino’s bills. An amended petition filed today with the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board asks that Louis DeNaples, the resort’s owner, could provide cash if it were needed for real estate taxes and other obligations.

Pennsylvania’s young casinos are competing quite well against the big boys. Comparing ’gross terminal revenues’ in October with those from October 2007, Pennsylvania casinos are slightly ahead, about 3 %. When Pennsylvania officials legalized slots parlors in mid-2004, some skeptics wondered how Keystone State casinos could ever compete with glitzier, better-known gambling meccas such as Las Vegas and Atlantic City.

Smokers beware, lungs rejoice. Pennsylvania’s Clean Indoor Air Act goes into effect Thursday. The law bans cigarette, cigar and pipe smoking in restaurants, office buildings, schools, sports arenas, Bingo halls and bus stations among other local locations. Even though there are some exceptions to the ban, health advocates said the law is a start. Jeanne Fignar, the policy and research coordinator for the Partnership for a Tobacco Free Northeast PA, said several efforts have been made…

Harrisburg – A former top-ranking state gambling regulator who left his job three months ago is now a lawyer and registered lobbyist for Mohegan Sun at Poconos Downs in Plains Township and Philadelphia Park casino in Bensalem. Attorney Kevin C. Hayes of Scranton served as director of the Office of Gaming Operations for the state Gaming Control Board until May 29, when he resigned.

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania – Construction is expected to restart within days on a troubled Pittsburgh casino project after state officials approved a rescue by new investors. The rescue plan on the partially built USD 780 million casino on Pittsburgh’s North Shore received the approval Thursday from the seven-member Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. The unanimous vote came after the gaming board’s staff gave the deal a green light during a four-hour hearing.

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (AP) – Pennsylvania lawmakers asking questions about the rescue of a financially troubled Pittsburgh casino project found a more complicated situation than they thought. The prime contractor on the Majestic Star casino said today that dozens of subcontractors may quit the partially built project next week. They’ve gone several months without pay from the owner, Detroit businessman Don Barden.

Pennsylvania lawmakers are trying to force Philadelphia’s two licensed casino operators to move their casinos from the current unpopular locations. Two powerful lawmakers representing Philadelphia, state House Appropriations Committee Chairman Dwight Evans and outgoing state Senator Vincent Fumo, said at a news conference last week that they will draft legislation…

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board will meet Thursday to hear an update on the latest financing plan for Majestic Star Casino developer Don Barden. The hearing was scheduled because Barden’s latest financing plan has been wrapped up, and it has changed since the last time the board examined it, said board spokesman Richard McGarvey. „We had to make sure we had enough information before we could schedule a hearing,“ McGarvey said.

Plains, Pennsylvania — In three weeks, when the first visitors walk through the main entrance of the new casino at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, they will pass a sculpture that starts as a hunk of coal at its base. Slowly, as it spins toward the ceiling, fist-sized black chunks morph into clear rocks and finally into polished diamonds. When the USD 208 million expansion opens July 17, it will reflect the Pennsylvania coal country where it sits and how the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority…

Governor Edward G. Rendell signed into law the Clean Indoor Air Act, which will protect Pennsylvanians from the deadly health effects of secondhand smoke by prohibiting smoking in most public places, including restaurants, workplaces and a portion of casino floors. „All Pennsylvanians will benefit from the persistence of advocates and legislators who refused to quit working until we had joined dozens of other states in banning smoking in most public places,“…

Pittsburgh casino developer Don Barden told the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board on Wednesday that efforts to complete USD 780 million in financing for his planned Majestic Star Casino are moving forward, a spokesman said. Barden’s spokesman, Bob Oltmanns, said the Detroit businessman „addressed all of the board members‘ questions. They seemed to be satisfied.“ Oltmanns said he did not want to give a timetable for when financing arrangements would be complete…