Pennsylvania the fourth state to pass online gambling regulatory and licensing measur

[jetset]

PENNSYLVANIA HOUSE VOTES FOR ONLINE GAMBLING BILL (Update)

State set to become the fourth that has decided to regulate and licence online gambling.

Pennsylvania House lawmakers wasted no time this Thursday morning in voting 109 vs. 72 for the sweeping gambling expansion bill H-271 passed the previous afternoon by the Senate as an element in a budget-funding imperative.

InfoPowa readers will recall reports earlier today that after making some concessions the state Senate approved the bill Wednesday, sending it to the House immediately.

A House committee quickly voted the measure to the floor where extensive debate took place until just before midnight, when legislators agreed to consider their positions overnight and prepare for a vote early Thursday morning.

The bill was quickly approved on Thursday, and includes online gambling and daily fantasy sports provisions (see earlier detailed InfoPowa reports), making Pennsylvania the fourth US state to regulate and licence online gambling.

The bill now goes to Governor Tom Wolf for signature and implementation.

 

[jetset]

PENNSYLVANIA GOVERNOR SIGNS ONLINE GAMBLING BILL INTO STATE LAW (Update)

State if now officially the fourth to legalise online gambling.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf has wasted little time in signing the gambling expansion bill approved by the state House and Senate last week, which includes the legalisation of online poker and casino gambling and daily fantasy sports.

The governor's signature marks an end to the four-month debate over what should be included in the budget funding bill, which has bounced back and forth between House and Senate as lawmakers struggled to find some sort of agreement.

In the end they produced legislation that permits intrastate online casino and poker products, daily fantasy sports, online lottery sales, 10 new satellite casinos and video gaming terminals (VGT) at truck stops.

State regulators now have 60 days to put together the requisite regulations and infrastructure to support the 12 licenses available for each vertical. Existing state land casino licensees have first crack at the licenses and have 120 days to apply, after which the offer will be open to wider applicants.

The main criticism regarding the new law (other than the anticipated whingeing from anti-gambling expansion entities) appears to be the sky-high tax rate imposed on online slots which at 54 percent matches that currently charged on land slots. This is not even remotely competitive against neighbouring New Jersey rates and will make the achievement of profit difficult to say the least.

 

[Casinomeister]

Anybody here from Pennsylvania??

 

[samoas]

Raisng Hand! HERE!!!!! I'm from PA

Anybody here from Pennsylvania??

I haven't posted in quite a while. Any old timers remember me from back in the day? You may recall I worked in horse racing for many years and was employed by a major gaming player during the inception of legalized land-based gaming. I was out of the business and briefly returned to work with another major player in gaming, as a floor supervisor.

As a gambler, I have mixed feelings about the online and land based gaming. As the saying goes "Not in my back yard". There is one pie. It can only be sliced so many ways. Our gaming market is saturated here. Where I reside, I can be at one of four land based casinos within a time frame of a 10 minute to 30 minute car ride. Ironically (and for self preservation) I do not gamble in my state purposely. The knowledge I have gained from being employed in the racing & gaming industry has opened my eyes.

The idea of gaming was sold to the people to generate funds for the sport of horse racing and of course property tax relief for the residents of the state. I can tell you that neither of those statements have come to fruition.

Horse racing (thoroughbreds especially) are near & dear to my heart. This is a dying sport. There is a logical explanation for this. Racing used to be a form of family entertainment, back when cable and social media outlets were non existent. Parents, and children picnicing on the weekends as Mommy & Daddy played the ponies. As times progress, and technology advances, entertainment desires change. We live in a day and age of instant gratification. I get it. What I don't get is all of the empty promises made on the backs of the hard-working people (horsemen, breeders, mutuels, etc.) that fought for the legalization of gaming in this state with the license owners. The purses have meagerly increased, if at all. Most haven't. Some tracks have minimal racing days to meet the quota of their promise(revised numerous times since inception). Other race tracks have been blatantly shut. Off track betting is virtually non-existent. Numerous facilities have closed in the last four years. The license holders got what they wanted, are raking the funds in, and all who were promised to benefit have been shunned. No money is spent by any track-licensed casino in PA to promote the sport of horse racing, the sole reason casinos in PA exist.

This fact may give you some insight:
All monies that are generated by gaming do not contribute to state-wide benefits for residents, , even though the Control Board for PA Gaming website states otherwise. I worked for a casino (not mentioning any names) where a deal was cut with the local government promising them .90 on the dollar of slot play revenue. This locale is one of the poorest areas in Southeastern PA to this day. By the way, This partnership took place a decade ago with no improvement in the area to date. Kind of akin to Atlantic City's (NJ) history.

PA hasn't had a balanced budget in years. Generating significantly more revenue yet every year there is a deficit. That's the government for ya!

So that's my rant. Guess I am making up for the lack of posting in years!

On a side note- Awesome job and gratitude for keeping this site going Bryan. There's no place like (casinomeister) home.

Christine