Self-excluded New Jersey woman escorted out of Hollywood casino after winning jackpot

A 69-year-old woman from New Jersey has grabbed headlines in Pennsylvania after she had to be escorted out of the Hollywood Casino in Dauphin County on Sunday after she secured a slot machine jackpot.

While winning a jackpot should trigger cheers and a congratulatory slap on the back in most cases, the woman’s case was slightly different - she won the money while on Pennsylvania’s lifetime self-exclusion list. She put herself on the list in 2019, based on police reporting, but was still able to access the property. Usually, all patrons walking into casinos would be stopped and checked to have their IDs verified, but in this case the woman was able to slip through - the circumstances of how this happened were never elaborated by police nor the property. Apart from being escorted out of the property, the woman’s winnings were also automatically forfeited, as per the state’s guidelines put forward by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB). The PGCB specifically states that individuals who violate their self-exclusion terms will have any winnings confiscated and may receive a citation for criminal trespass. Pennsylvania allows people to exclude for a varying period of time, including one year, five years, orfor life. The exact amount of money won by the woman is also a mystery, but she was caught while filling out the mandatory tax form at the casino, when an ID check was also required, which led casino workers to find out that the woman had been excluded for the past seven years. In other words, the money won must be at least $2,000 to trigger the relevant tax paperwork.