Exhibit 31.2
CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO RULE 13a-14(a) AND
15d-14(a) OF
THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
I, William J. Clifford, certify that:
1. I have reviewed
this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Penn National Gaming, Inc.;
2. Based on my
knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact
or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in
light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not
misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;
3. Based on my
knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included
in this report, fairly present in all material respects the financial
condition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and
for, the periods presented in this report;
4. The
registrants other certifying officer(s) and I are responsible for establishing
and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act
Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the registrant and have:
(a) designed such disclosure controls and
procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed
under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the
registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by
others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this
report is being prepared;
(b) evaluated the effectiveness of the
registrants disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our
conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures,
as of the end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation;
and
(c) disclosed in this report any change in
the registrants internal control over financial reporting that occurred during
the registrants most recent fiscal quarter that has materially affected, or is
reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrants internal control over
financial reporting; and
5. The
registrants other certifying officer(s) and I have disclosed, based on our
most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the
registrants auditors and the audit committee of registrants board of
directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):
(a) all significant
deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal
control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely
affect the registrants ability to record, process, summarize and report
financial information; and
(b) any fraud,
whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a
significant role in the registrants internal control over financial reporting.
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Date:
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July
23
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, 2004
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/s/
William J. Clifford
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William
J. Clifford
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Senior
Vice President-Finance and
Chief Financial Officer
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