Parx Casino went live online with a slots game called ‘Total Meltdown.’ It nearly lived up to its name.
Two interactive gamblers stumbled on the online Parx slots games after they inadvertently went live. The gamblers lost. So did the casino.
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Before interactive gaming was legal in Pennsylvania, Parx Casino in Bensalem mistakenly went live with two online slots games during a 2019 test.
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board on Wednesday approved a consent order under which Parx will pay fines and fees totaling $7,500, the first enforcement action taken against a Pennsylvania casino for a violation of interactive gaming since online gambling was authorized under a 2017 Pennsylvania gaming expansion.
The online slot games that Parx posted prematurely, called “Starburst” and “Total Meltdown,” were active for only 16 minutes. But during that brief period, two interactive gamblers previously registered with the casino’s online sports-betting operation stumbled on the new casino games and began to play.
They lost $422.85 on “Total Meltdown” — a nuclear-reactor-themed game that OnlineGamblingSites.com says is not “your mother’s slots game with kittens and jewels.”
One player accounted for most of the loss, wagering a total of $3,576 and losing $393.85. That was from 466 separate wagers, or one spin of the machine every two seconds if the gambler was active for the full 16 minutes before Parx pulled the plug.
After discovering the error, which took place three days before the official July 15, 2019, launch of online gaming in Pennsylvania, Parx tracked down the gamblers and refunded their losses. The casino also reported the goof to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.
The consent order approved Wednesday also requires Parx to institute policies and procedures to prevent a repeat performance, which was blamed on GAN plc, the casino’s interactive gaming partner.
The $7,500 penalty is a small expense for Parx, which generated $5.3 million from online slots in March, and $61.5 million last month in total online and casino revenue, tops in the state.
Pennsylvania casinos appear to have recovered from last year’s pandemic-related meltdown, and last month reported a record $403.1 million in revenue, including $95.2 million — 24% of the total — from online slots and casino games, less than two years after interactive gaming was launched.