It’s no secret that people in Pennsylvania love gambling and fortunately there is an abundance of land-based casinos, sportsbooks and other legal gambling activities available to indulge in. The legalization process of these did not come quick or easy.
Truth be told, Pennsylvania was one of the states that originally went against legalising gambling. And today the Keystone state is considered to be the second-largest casino state in terms of gambling revenue.

Then in 1967, the state made the first move into the gambling world by legalising horse betting. Residents of the state can enjoy taking part in live horse racing and off-track betting options. Shortly after in 1971 the state established their very own state lottery like many other states. The state lottery holds lotto drawings and sells a range of instant games. The lotto drawings in this state include Pick 2, Pick 3, Pick 4, Pick 5, Cash 4 Life, Cash 5 and Match 6. The Pennsylvania Lottery is also among the US states that partake in the multistate lottery drawings. This enables residents to take part in big prize pool lotteries such as the Mega Millions and the Powerball. Charitable games are also legal in the state allowing charities to host limited games of chance to raise funds. Bingo is one of the many forms of gambling that is available for charity purposes. There are over a dozen licensed bingo halls in the state where this gambling activity can be enjoyed.

It was only in 2004 that the first state-licensed casinos started to appear on the scene but they had to wait until 2010 to offer class 3 table games. When visiting the state you can quickly see that the majority of state casinos are attached to racetracks. There are three resort-style casinos in the state however but these offer fewer slot options than racinos. The good news is that you will be able to enjoy gambling on slots, video poker and table games at all of the land-based establishments in the state.

And finally, in 2017 online gambling and sports betting was also written into law. The laws might have changed in 2017 but it took until 2019 for legal online operators to start appearing in the state. The new legislation allows for players to actively enjoy legal online casinos, online poker rooms and online sports betting opportunities. 

As with any state seeking to regulate and ‘control’, the gambling industry in the region Pennsylvania has several boards and agencies in place for licensing and regulatory purposes. The main licensing authority in the state is the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board is a governmental agency of the state that was founded in 2004. This regulatory and enforcement agency is tasked with controlling all forms of gambling in the state. This includes rules and regulations, licensing applications and approvals and overseeing all gambling activities to ensure it is done responsibly. The board was created to enforce all rules and regulations with the sole purpose being to create a safe and fair gaming experience for players both online and offline.

The board has the authority to issue up to 14 casino licenses of which 7 has been guaranteed to the state’s racetracks. Five were awarded to standalone Pennsylvania casinos and three to casino resorts. With this in mind, there will be a total of 15 casinos licensed within the state.

All casinos in this state have to pay a tax rate of 55% on all slots, video poker, and electronic table games. Live poker and table games are subject to a tax rate of 16%.

In this state, all charities have the option of applying for a bingo license. The license fee is $100 and from approval, it will be active for a year. With the license in place, the bingo games may not have a prize larger than $250 for any single game unless there is a jackpot prize draw. The Bingo games with a jackpot may not have a prize larger than $2,000. The maximum amount of money a bingo charity is allowed to give away in a day is $4,000. The legislation also states that no bingo hall is allowed to host games over more than two nights a week. The only exception to this rule is for annual celebrations where non-profit groups are allowed to hold 10 consecutive days of bingo games.

In this state, the Pennsylvania Lottery is only allowed to spread two types of games namely instant games commonly known as scratch-off tickets and lotto drawings. As mentioned earlier the state holds its own lotto drawing but also participates in multi-state pools.

Pennsylvania is home to active horse racing activities with seven licensed tracks. At each racetrack, there is a racebook and all horse racing tracks are legally allowed to partner with online betting apps for remote wagering options. Bettors may make deposits and withdrawals at the partner tracks.

The legal gambling age for all gambling activities is 18 apart for casino gaming which requires you to be 21 or older.