iStockphoto
People who develop a gambling problem have plenty of resources at their disposal if they realize they need some help. That includes programs that offer a self-imposed ban from places and platforms you may be tempted by, and one woman who enrolled in one in Pennsylvania found herself hit with a trespassing charge after winning a slot machine jackpot at a casino she wasn’t allowed to be in.
The widespread legalization of sports betting in the United States has coincided with an increase in the number of people who’ve sought out assistance after realizing they’ve developed a gambling addiction. That particular problem is by no means a new development, but it’s become predictably more common now that phones tend to offer the action you previously had to head to a physical sportsbook or casino to get in on.
The ads that now litter basically every sports broadcast feature a reminder of those potential downsides in the form of the number for the National Problem Gambling Helpline, which is dedicated to helping people who’ve realized they’ve gotten in too deep turn things around.
Major platforms also tend to offer a “self-exclusion” option that is also available at many casinos and in states where they’re located. That includes Pennsylvania, and one woman who decided to ban herself from gambling there for life seemingly forfeited a jackpot after slipping up.
A gambler at a casino in Pennsylvania was escorted from a casino she’d banned herself from entering after hitting a slot machine jackpot
Pennsylvania is one of the states with a gaming control board that oversees a “self-exclusion” list targeted at problem gamblers who don’t have enough self-control to cut themselves off. People who enroll can choose to be banned from gambling at casinos, video terminals, and online platforms (including fantasy sports), and can opt for a self-imposed hiatus of one year, five years, or the rest of their lives.
According to ABC27, a 69-year-old woman who resides in Asbury, New Jersey opted for the lifetime option in Pennsylvania at some point in 2019, but that didn’t prevent her from entering the Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course on May 31st before hitting the slots.
The woman ended up winning an unspecified jackpot on one of those machines before the casino contacted the Pennsylvania State Police after discovering she was on the self-exclusion list, and the troopers who responded escorted her from the grounds before issuing her a citation for trespassing.
According to a brochure for the state’s Self-Exclusion Program, people who enroll are “prohibited from collecting any winnings.” The outlet notes a man who won $57,000 in 2025 forfeited that sum, which was instead given to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board to be used”for specific problems to fight gambling addiction.”