- Does Pennsylvania Allow Online Gambling
- Pennsylvania Gambling News
- Pa Online Gambling
- Legal Online Gambling In Pa
Pennsylvania's legal online gambling status is near complete with casino, poker, and sports gambling supported online by the state. However, some of these online gambling forms have yet to launch. Therefore, we recommend using licensed offshore online gambling sites in the meantime. New Jersey, Nevada and Delaware quickly got on board and legalized online casino games, online poker or both provided organizations seeking to organize such games are properly licensed and approved. Pennsylvania joined the party in 2017 and was followed by West Virginia in 2019. Michigan is expected to launch sports betting, casino, and poker in 2020.
*Updated 10/30: Governor Tom Wolf has signed HB 271, officially legalizing online gambling in Pennsylvania!
The Pennsylvania General Assembly passed an expansive gambling bill Thursday which authorizes online casino and poker games, VGTs at select truck stops and the opening of several satellite casinos. The legislation is one part of a broader revenue package meant to solve the state’s $2.2 billion budget deficit.
HB271 was amended by the Senate on Wednesday afternoon, where it subsequently passed by a margin of 31-19. The bill was then moved to the House, where opponents made a last-minute push to effectively derail by sending it back to committee. The effort proved unsuccessful, however, and the legislation was taken up again the following morning. After several more hours of legitimate debates and even more grandstanding, the bill passed at 11 a.m. by a vote of 109-72.
The legislation makes Pennsylvania the fourth state to legalize online gambling in the US, behind Nevada, Delaware and NewJersey. The achievement is the result of years of efforts by Commonwealth lawmakers like JohnPayne, RositaYoungblood and NickMiccarelli, who have advocated for regulated iGaming as a potential untapped source of recurring revenue.
Online gambling overview
HB271 will allow Pennsylvania’s licensed land-based casino operators to offer three categories of Internet gambling games:
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Does Pennsylvania Allow Online Gambling
- Online slots
- Online table games
- Peer to peer online poker
Operators must buy a license for each of the game types they wish to offer, at a cost of $4 million per license. They also have the choice of buying all three for a discounted total of $10 million, if the purchase is made within the first 90 days.
After 120 days, “entities” outside of PA will have the option of buying a license as well, at the $4 million price point.
Sen. Jay Costa (D-Allegheny County) recently stated his hope that the industry will bring an upfront cash infusion of around $200 million in total licensing fees for the general fund in 2017-18.
Onerous tax rates could the crippling
Both online table games and poker will be taxed at a rate of 14 percent, with an additional 2 percent local tax added on top, which is close to the 17.5 percent rate that New Jersey’s regulated online casinos pay for all game types across the board. But lawmakers in PA have seen fit to charge a whopping 54 percent on slots revenues, a shortsighted move which could severely hamper the growth of the industry in the state.
As slots are one of the biggest iGaming revenue generators, the crushing tax rate, along with the need to purchase multiple licenses, could lead the state’s smaller operators to steer clear of the industry altogether. Even in a best case scenario, it will likely lead to an industry that is weaker than it could have been had the slot tax rate been more sustainable.
Casino interests and lobbyists were displeased with constituents of the amended proposal, with the slot tax rate presumably one of its foremost grievances:
6/ The proposed Senate amendments to HB271 have been … panned by casino/gaming industry lobbyists I’ve spoken to today.
— Chris Krafcik (@CKrafcik) October 25, 2017
What else is in the package
Satellite casinos
The bill authorizes the operation of 10 satellite casinos, open to licensed racetrack and freestanding casinos. Operators must bid on the licenses, which start at $10 million a pop, and which will allow them to run between 300 and 750 slot machines and up to 30 table games each. Satellite casinos cannot be built within 25 miles of any existing competitor casino.
VGTs at truck stops
Video gaming terminals were a huge sticking point for lawmakers in previous gaming package negotiations. The Senate, originally against VGTs altogether, compromised by allowing for VGTs at qualified truck stops, but not at bars, restaurants and private clubs, which many House members had originally pushed for.
The terminals will be allowed at locations which have at least 20 parking spaces dedicated to commercial vehicles, and which sold at least 50,000 gallons of diesel fuel the prior year.
DFS, sports betting and online lottery
In addition, the bill allows for regulation of daily fantasy sports companies and includes provisions to legalize betting on live sporting events should the federal ban on that industry be lifted.
The Pennsylvania lottery will also have access to the online market and will be allowed to sell numbers game tickets and offer new instant web games.
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TYPES OF CASINOS IN PENNSYLVANIA
In July 2004 the Pennsylvania legislature authorized the legalization of slot machines at 14 locations throughout the state: seven racinos, five stand-alone casinos, and two hotel resorts. All casinos in Pennsylvania can have up to 5,000 machines, except the resort licensees, those two Pennsylvania casinos are allowed up to 600.
Some would say the best casino in Pennsylvania would be the Parx Casino in Bensalem, the most popular stand-alone casino is Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem and the most popular hotel resort casino is Valley Forge.
The final stand-alone license was awarded to Live! Hotel and Casino which will be building a $425 million project housing a 200,000- square-foot gaming floor, a 220-room hotel and a 1,000-seat music venue. The resort will be located at 900 Packer Avenue in South Philadelphia and the earliest it is expected to open in late 2018.
Unless otherwise noted, all Pennsylvania casinos offer: slots, video poker, craps, blackjack, roulette, three card poker, mini-baccarat and Pai-gow poker. Optional games include: baccarat, poker, ultimate Texas hold ‘em, Texas hold’em bonus, let it ride, pai gow, big 6 wheel, Spanish 21, four card poker, Sic-Bo, Mississippi stud and casino war.
The payback percentages on electronic gaming machines at all Pennsylvania casinos are released as a matter of public record. Just click here to see a list of slot machine payback statistics for all Pennsylvania casinos.
The minimum gambling age is 18 for pari-mutuel betting and 21 at casinos. All Pennsylvania casinos are open 24 hours.
For more information on visiting casinos in Pennsylvania, or general tourism information, call their Office of Tourism at (800) 237-4363 or visit their website at www.visitpa.com
Want to See a Map of all Pennsylvania casinos?
Pennsylvania Gambling News
Visit our Pennsylvania casinos map page to see a detailed map showing all casinos in that state.
Pa Online Gambling
Shown below is a list of all casinos in Pennsylvania. Click on a casino name to see a page of detailed information about that particular Pennsylvania casino.
Legal Online Gambling In Pa
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