Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board to accept Interactive Gaming Petitions

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board today announced that beginning on 16 April 2018, and for a period of 120 days, licensed Pennsylvania Casinos can petition the Board for an Interactive Gaming Certificate.

If approved, a Certificate Holder may be authorized to offer interactive gaming in three categories:
Peer-to-peer interactive games where players compete directly against other players, like poker.
Non-peer-to-peer interactive games where players compete against the dealer’s hand, which simulate table games.

Non-peer-to-peer interactive games which simulate slot machines.

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Pennsylvania august table games revenue down 3.7%

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board announced today that revenue from the play of table games at the state’s casinos during August 2016 was down 3.7% compared to revenue generated for the same time period last year.

According to a report posted today on the Board’s web site, August’s gross table games revenue generated $66,955,105 or $2,596,044 less than in August 2015 when revenue totaled $69,551,148.

The Board also reported that the resulting tax revenue produced from table games play in August was $10,868,507.

There was an average of 1,209 tables in operation statewide on a daily basis.

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February sees 6.7% increase in Pennsylvania table games revenue

Gross revenue from gambling at table games in Pennsylvania casinos during February 2016 was 6.7% higher than February of last year, according to figures released today by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.

Posted on the Board’s website, the report shows that this February’s gross table games revenue was $68,187,957 compared to $63,916,997 in revenue produced by the 12 casinos during February 2015.

Total tax revenue from table games play during February was $9,713,295* with an average of 1,171 tables in operation statewide on a daily basis. Table game tax is calculated as 14% of the gross revenue.

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Pennsylvania bill would see casinos offering online gambling

PENNSYLVANIA -- A bill introduced earlier this week would allow casinos to offer gamblers who live 20 miles away online gambling, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

The Senate bill offers a host of additional fees that casinos can pay to avail of new provisions, the report said.

For $5 million, casinos can obtain a permit to sell sell alcohol 24 hours a day, the Philadelphia Inquirer said.

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Pennsylvania likely to approve online gambling

The possibility of online gambling in Pennsylvania lives on, according to some of the state's most influential authorities.

Optimism in the State House

In a one-on-one interview, Pennsylvania House Gaming Oversight Committee Executive William Thomas asserted his strong belief in the importance of online gambling to the citizens of the state, in terms of integrating the interests of the state with the interests of the people as it continues within the state right now, regulated or not.

It's a rare thing in America to see a politician acknowledge the continuation of online gambling in unregulated form, but Thomas is refreshing pragmatic, stating that the reality is that many people are already gambling online and therefore on unregulated and unlicensed websites. Therefore, he would like to see the industry "regulated in Pennsylvania so that we can get the tax revenue and we can protect our constituents and citizens from somebody’s unregulated sites that they’re going on right now.”

Online gambling by 2015?

In relation to iGaming in the state, there are currently a total of six different proposals moving around the state House and Senate. Current prevailing wisdom envisions the legalization and regulation of online gambling in Pennsylvania by this time next year, after getting pushed to the back burner by legislators several times.

However, Thomas claims that with a new legislature and governor incoming, these legislative hurdles will dissolve for good, clearing the way for Pennsylvania to become the 4th US state to make online wagers available to residents, good for a yield of up to $113 million in annual tax revenues.

Online poker regulation soon after

Regarding online poker, 2017 seems to be the consensus date that experts agree will be the year of regulation for Pennsylvania. This prediction is based largely on a Sept. 10 report released by Morgan Stanley Research predicting legislative approval of a poker-only bill in 2016. Pennsylvania is likely to be one of a small group of states, with Morgan Stanley predicting California, New York and Illinois as the other states in that group.

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PA table games revenue down 1% in January

HARRISBURG - Revenue from table games play at the 12 Pennsylvania casinos was $58.7 million in January 2014, according to a report released today by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.

That amount represents a 1.12% decrease in revenue from table games play during January of this year compared to January of 2013.

The monthly report, posted on the Board’s web site also shows $8,426,650 million in tax revenue that was generated from table games this January.

Combined revenue from the play of slot machines and tables games during January was $230,498,811, a decrease of 7% over last January’s total of $247,622,923.

As reported earlier this month in the release of January’s slot machine revenue, play at Pennsylvania’s casinos was likely negatively impacted by the significant amounts of snow and extreme cold weather that affected all parts of the state and has continued into February. Slot machine revenue for February is expected to be released by the Board during the first week of March.

About the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board - The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board was established in 2004 with the passage of Act 71, also known as the Race Horse Development and Gaming Act. Pennsylvania’s first new state agency in nearly 30 years, the Gaming Control Board is tasked to oversee all aspects of the state’s casino industry. The 12 casinos in operation all offer both slot machine and table game gambling, employ over 16,000 people, and collectively generate an average of $4 million per day in tax revenue. A portion of that money is used for property tax reduction to all Pennsylvania homeowners; provide funds to the Commonwealth’s horse racing industry, fire companies, a statewide water and sewer project grant program, and the state’s General Fund; and, established a new stream of tax revenue to local governments that host casinos for community projects.

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