PHILADELPHIA — A casino in Philadelphia that served a gambler 17 free drinks over an eight-hour period has been fined $17,500.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports state regulators imposed the fine Wednesday on the SugarHouse Casino over the September incident.

Officials say the patron was playing Pai Gow, a table game with Chinese tiles similar to blackjack, and he was visibly intoxicated while gambling.

According to the casino's consent agreement with the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, it wasn't until the gambler couldn't hold up his head anymore that a supervisor stopped him from getting more drinks and summoned security.

An altercation occurred as the patron was evicted from the casino, and he was arrested for public drunkenness.

SugarHouse agreed to retrain and discipline the beverage servers in addition to the fine.