The 33rd-largest state in America and one of the thirteen founding colonies — the United States Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution were drafted, debated, and adopted in Philadelphia — borders state of New York to the north, New Jersey to the east, Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the south-west, Ohio to the west, and Lake Erie, Canada, to the north-west.
Recognized as the cradle of the most important events in American history — Gettysburg and Valley Forge complement the picture — Pennsylvania is also known as the leading coal-producing state with economy further compounded by manufacturing, livestock products, business management, as well as insurance, real estate, banking services, and gambling industries.
Such a diversified economic portfolio generates a state gross product of $788.5 billion as of 2018, amounting to 3.8% to the U.S. overall GDP (trailing only California, Texas, New York, and Florida).
The strong business connection between the Keystone State and regulated gambling go way back to 1959 when the state legalized horse betting; further authorization of slot machines in 2004, table games in 2010, and online gambling at brick-and-mortar casinos in 2017 cemented Pennsylvania’s status as the second-largest gambling state in America.
Not surprisingly…
…when the SCOTUS repealed the PASPA, the state legislature in Harrisburg was efficient and legalized sports betting (offline, online) in June 2018.
Legal Framework
Several laws govern a well-developed gambling ecosystem in Pennsylvania. When it comes to iGaming, though, the most important is HB271 — the Gaming Act of 2017.
This omnibus bill regulates interactive gambling and allows for online poker, slots, other table games, interactive lottery tickets, and daily fantasy sports to be legally offered by licensed land-based casino operators.
The key gambling regulator is the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB), which drafted and approved sports betting regulations as well.
The age limitation for gambling varies depending on the vertical: for bingo, lottery, and race betting, it’s 18, while for casino games, online casinos, and interactive sports betting, it’s 21.
The similar variable situation is with taxation: operators are taxed with 54% of gross wins on all slot machines, 16% on table games (including poker), and 36% on sports betting (online, offline), while players are levied at 3.07 percent.
One of the highest gambling taxation states in America collected the record $1.48 billion from casinos in 2018. Seventy-five percent of the money was used to reduce school taxes, boost economic development, and support municipalities that host casinos.
All tax surpluses from the State Lottery are by default distributed to charitable causes.
Licensing
The PGCB is in charge of the whole spectrum of gambling regulatory activities in Pennsylvania, which also include issuing different licenses to casino facilities, equipment manufacturers and suppliers, gaming services providers, and operators’ staff — principals, officers, directors, GMs, department heads, table game managers, shift supervisors, cage cashiers, dealers, slot attendants, and non-gaming employees.
As of 2019, there are 12 licensed brick-and-mortar casino properties in the state — ten casinos and racinos, plus two resort casinos. Also, there are five stand-alone slots parlors. (Mind you, all land-based facilities are allowed to offer online gambling.)
Thoroughly envisioned licensing process — which is to say, each operator has to possess proper set of licenses depending on the type of operations conducted, not to mention that its workforce has to be either licensed or registered — is usually lengthy affair and may cost anything between $2,500 and $50 million for the period of five years.
So…
…enterprise iGaming operators have to submit Application and Disclosure Form that is sixty pages long. In case of a slot machine, table game, daily fantasy, iGaming or sports betting manufacturers and/or operators, the fee is $5,000; for video gaming terminal manufacturers, suppliers, and operators, the fee is $50,000.
The PGCB sifts through and do background checks on any conceivable information about applicants: detailed personal information, full business overview (including annual reports for the last five years, incorporation details, founders, plans, operations description, and such), financial statements, criminal history (ranging from small offenses to polygraph reports), description of bonuses and profit sharing details, in addition to the list of all service providers whose goods/products shall be integrated into the platform, plus technical, security, and fair-play protocols for interactive gambling, locations of remote gaming servers, and intellectual property rights.
If approved, the operator gets the initial license to five years. Upon the expiration, the license may be renewed for an additional 5-year period.
Players’ Protection
Naturally, such a well-governed gambling market — and a rather impactful element to the state’s economy — also offers great aegis to patrons when it comes to prudent and responsible gambling.
The PGCB is in charge of investigating all non-criminal violations of the gambling laws, including players’ complaints and disputes with casinos. Upon patron’s written request — which can be found and submitted online within 30 calendar days of the incident — each case is assigned with an investigator.
The confidential complaints can relate to any practice or experience in the casino, sportsbook, iGaming, online sports wagering, video gaming terminal, iLottery, and illegal gambling. Any criminal violations alleged by patron are automatically referred to the Pennsylvania State Police for investigation.
Furthermore…
…players enjoy myriad resources when it comes to problem gambling, quite in line with the prevailing healthy climate in other American states.
Self-exclusion programs include one-year, five-year, or lifetime bans although the application forms have to be submitted personally. Licensed facilities must refuse wagers and deny any privileges to persons on the self-exclusion list. If a placed person is found on-premises, it is subject to arrest for trespassing; any potential game proceedings are remitted to fund other problem gambling initiatives by the PGCB.
The state also runs the Council on Compulsive Gambling in Pennsylvania which provides education and public resources (workshops, seminars) to individuals and businesses, schools, colleges, health care centers, and treatment facilities. The Council also trains therapists (two-level programs) on the prevention of problem gambling.
Finally, the PGCB operates special support programs for families and friends (with a particular focus on teenagers and seniors) and a 24/7 free and confidential helpline.
Final Notes
Pennsylvania is an example of the right approach to gambling.
Fully legalized and supremely governed proclivity can result in a significant contribution to society as long as players approach it in a measured and responsible manner; when patrons omit to do so, the state is ready to provide with necessary help.
While online gambling remains off-limits for home users — and some pundits may see this as deal-breaker — it still is available, which is something, and, it should also be noted that such setup is a simple question of financial contributions: taxes remain in-state.
Therefore, if you happen to find yourself in Pennsylvania, make sure to use all those gambling capacities wisely and prudently, stay well within the limits of your budget, use your gaming skills for the best, and have great fun and good luck.
Further Reading
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