The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board fined Rivers Casino of Pittsburgh $15,000 for compromising the integrity of a blackjack game when a dealer put an extra card in the deck.
Assistant Enforcement Counsel Kim Adams said that on Aug. 14, an automated shuffler malfunctioned while a stack of blue cards was being shuffled and a stack of red cards was in play. The dealer overrode the error light. When the shuffling was completed, he took a card from the blue deck out of the shuffler and put it in the red deck. The extra card was later determined to be a 10 of clubs.
Adams said the red deck with the extra card was used for 73 minutes and 147 hands, while the blue deck with the missing card was used for 24 minutes and 64 hands.
Rivers attorney John Donnelly said the casino reported the incident to regulators and the blue card was never dealt, so no hands were won or lost because of the extra card. He blamed human error for the offense and said dealers are now forbidden from touching the shufflers. The dealer was given a written warning, skipping the step of an oral warning.
Rivers also must pay $2,500 for investigative costs.
The board approved the fine on Jan. 13. Rivers is owned by Holdings Acquisition Co. and overseen by Rush Street Gaming.
