A 69-year-old woman from Asbury, New Jersey, is reportedly facing a trespassing citation after winning a slot machine jackpot at a Pennsylvania casino she had banned herself from for life. According to Brobible, she hit the winning combination at the Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course in Grantville before staff identified her as a banned gambler.
The woman had placed herself on Pennsylvania’s self-exclusion list in 2019, choosing a lifetime ban, per ABC27. The program apparently lets people who recognize a gambling problem voluntarily bar themselves from casinos, video gaming terminals, and online betting for one year, five years, or life. And anyone who enrolls reportedly forfeits any winnings and risks a trespassing citation if they enter a casino anyway.
Despite that ban, she reportedly went onto the casino floor and won. After the jackpot hit, casino surveillance flagged her, troopers from the Pennsylvania State Police escorted her off the property, and police said a non-traffic trespassing citation would be filed against her, states ABC27.
Jackpot winnings forfeited under strict gambling exclusion rules
According to Brobible, many states, including Pennsylvania, run self-exclusion programs to help people manage gambling addiction. A person who knows they have a problem can reportedly set up a barrier in advance, before the urge to gamble takes over. Once someone enrolls, the rules apparently apply across every casino covered by the program, and the lifetime option is meant to be permanent.
According to the official brochure for the Pennsylvania Self-Exclusion Program, anyone who enrolls is strictly barred from collecting any winnings. The policy is reportedly meant to take away the reason for people who have recognized their own gambling problems to try to get around the limits they set for themselves.
Apparently, this is not the first time. According to the Pennsylvania State Police, two self-banned gamblers hit jackpots on back-to-back days. One day after the Asbury woman was escorted out, troopers said a 40-year-old, also from New Jersey, ran into the same trouble at a different Pennsylvania casino, reports say.
For gamblers on the list, a jackpot reportedly rarely ends in a payout. A Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board spokesperson has said that jackpots seized from self-excluded players are redirected to programs that fight gambling addiction, per NewsNation. The same thing happened to an Oklahoma man who hit a huge jackpot and was then banned, losing his winnings for life.
Even public figures have apparently drawn scrutiny over gambling, as seen when Bruno Mars addressed rumors of a major gambling debt. For anyone who feels they have gone too far, the National Problem Gambling Helpline (1-800-GAMBLER) reportedly operates 24/7.
Published: Jun 4, 2026 11:30 am