Pennsylvania Intrastate Gambling Almost a Done Deal

Pennsylvania looks like joining the intrastate poker club and is all set to fully approve online gambling within state borders. This would mean that Pennsylvania joins Delaware, Nevada and New Jersey and The Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper reports that it could all be signed and sealed by as early as this coming Wednesday. Obtaining a license in Pennsylvania will not come cheap at $10 million each and there's also a 20% tax rate that all operators will have to pay. Democrat Tina Davis has been the driving force behind the new bill and one differing feature of the new legislation is that only those operators that currently hold a license to operate slots and table games within the state would be considered. This would mean that the land based casinos in Pennsylvania would operate and manage the online games and these would be offered by the casinos existing websites. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board would then be given the task of inspection and approval of all online software and devices used. There are a few other points of note in that players would have to open an account at one of the licensed facilities and use a current active bank account in order to play online and credit is an absolute no. There are other fairly standard terms and conditions such as allowing no-one else to use the account etc. Davis' proposal has a few steps to go through and will be put before the House Gaming Oversight Committee in Harrisburg, where it has to be approved. It will then be passed to the House of Representatives where voting will take place.