When casino regulations are violated, the gaming venue must pay the consequences. The Sands Casino Bethlehem is the latest gaming venue in the United States to face a fine after state gaming regulators found the venue to have mixed playing cards from different decks and introduced the cards in game play. The state of Pennsylvania has a prohibition against mixing such cards and the casino must now pay over $22,000 in fines for the incident.

Reportedly, there were two incidents in which the dealers of the casino had mixed red and blue playing card decks. The incidents took placed in June of last year and February, with the Sands reporting the incident to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board as soon as they discovered the mistake. A few hundred hands were dealt with the mixed cards before the mistake was noticed. The mistake was more likely to favor players than the house, if anyone.

The officials of the Sands have not commented on the incident. However, they did remove the continuous shuffle machines from the blackjack gaming areas and are using cards that have brighter colors. Employees have been alerted to the incident and no one was let go due to the incident.

Casinos across the United States can face fines for a variety of reasons. In most cases, fines are issued due to underage gambling or drinking as well as allowing individuals who have self-excluded to be on the gaming floor.