Several Penn athletes reportedly engaged in acts of underage gambling last year at SugarHouse Casino, which was fined $100,000, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Pennsylvania gambling regulators fined the Fishtown casino on account of five cases that included 10 underage individuals. It was the largest fine imposed by the Pennsylvania gaming board in the past five years.
According to The Inquirer, the General Manager of SugarHouse Wendy Hamilton informed Pennsylvania’s Gaming Control Board that the institution had “become popular with athletes from nationally ranked universities” in the region.
The Inquirer reported that "The University of Pennsylvania was identified as one of the schools in a 16-page consent order."
SugarHouse, located around six and a half miles from Penn’s campus, claims to be cracking down its admission of underage visitors. It has implemented a system that uses new scanners which are better at detecting whether IDs are fake, and has directed its security guards to ask potentially underage customers more difficult questions.
SugarHouse Casino provides both online and in-person gambling services. Individuals must be at least 21 years old to gamble in casinos in the state of Pennsylvania and at least 21 years old and physically located in New Jersey to wager online.
When asked to speak on the matter, University of Pennsylvania spokesperson Stephen MacCarthy declined to comment.
Correction: A previous version of this article said SugarHouse Casino was being sued for $100,000. The casino was being fined for that amount. The DP regrets the error.
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