Pennsylvania is the most populous US state with legal, regulated online gambling in 2020.

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The omnibus expansion package Gov. Tom Wolf signed into law in 2017 authorized interactive gaming across multiple verticals — including lottery, casino, fantasy sports, sports betting, and poker.

Call 1-800-GAMBLER.The gaming service is brought to you by Rush Street Interactive PA, LLC, licenced by PGCB, address of record 1001 N. Delaware Avenue Philadelphia, PA 19125 SugarHouse™ and SugarHouse Casino. PA online casino sites were legalized in 2017, and in July 2019, the first commercial casinos in the state launched online platforms. PA residents can now play real money casino games legally online. Pennsylvania is the most populous US state with legal, regulated online gambling in 2020. The omnibus expansion package Gov. Tom Wolf signed into law in 2017 authorized interactive gaming across multiple verticals — including lottery, casino, fantasy sports, sports betting, and poker.

The first PA online casinos launched in July 2019, and it didn’t take long for a variety of options to become available to gamblers in the Keystone State.

Pennsylvania online casino bonuses

PA online casinos

These 12 online casinos are licensed to operate legally in Pennsylvania:

• BetAmerica Casino
• Party Casino (coming soon)
• Wind Creek Casino

Each PA online casino features a variety of slots, table games, and video poker — with many additionally including other novelty games among their many selections.

BetAmerica

• Land-based partner: Presque Isle Downs
• Date launched: Jan. 28, 2020

Operating through a partnership with Presque Isle Downs & Casino in Erie, BetAmerica is owned by Churchill Downs Incorporated — home of the Kentucky Derby.

BetAmerica has over 50 different types of slot games, including popular titles such as Blood Suckers, Fairy Tale Legends Hansel & Gretel, Jack Hammer, Lucky Angler, Spinata Grande, and Twin $pin. Available table games include blackjack androulette.

One drawback, though: unlike other online casinos in Pennsylvania, BetAmerica has no mobile option and is only available via a web-browser.

BetRivers Casino

• Land-based partner: Rivers Pittsburgh
• Date launched: Jan. 30, 2020

Although affiliated with Rivers Casino Pittsburgh, the BetRivers online casino technically operates under Rivers Casino Philadelphia’s gaming license. The casino is essentially a skin of PlaySugarHouse, also operated by Rivers and similarly run on a platform provided by Rush Street Interactive.

BetRivers features games from several different studios, withmore than 70 different kinds of slots from which to choose. Popular titles include Cats, Double Jackpot, Guns ‘N Roses, Jimi Hendrix, Jingle Spin, Tiger 7s, White Orchid, and Wild Life.

Table and card games include blackjack, baccarat, and multiple roulette games. There is also a variety of video poker games powered by Game King.

Caesars Casino

• Land-based partner: Harrah’s Philadelphia
• Date launched: April 23, 2020

Harrah’s Philadelphia was among the last of Pennsylvania’s casinos to launch its online products. The sports half of Caesars Sportsbook & Casino launched in March 2020, with the online casino component following in April.

At launch, the casino had just 12 slots available and no other games. The launch titles were: 88 Fortunes, Bruce Lee, Mad Mad Monkey, Raging Rhino, Starmania, Zeus (and Zeus III), Celestial King, Kronos Unleashed, Spartacus: Gladiator of Rome, Monopoly: Mega Movers, and Montezuma.

The selection of games should expand soon. The app and website both follow closely the design of Caesars Casino New Jersey, which has over 300 games available. Pennsylvania players can probably expect to have a similar array of options in time.

DraftKings Casino

• Land-based partner: Meadows
• Date launched: May 1, 2020

If there was any doubt before, there is little question now that DraftKings is a full-scale gambling company. In addition to sports betting, the once-small DFS site has now pivoted all the way into online casino gambling as a newly public corporation.

DraftKings Casino made its debut in Pennsylvania in May 2020 on the back of the Meadows license, additionally relying on an alliance with Scientific Games for the platform and content.

Fox Bet Casino

• Land-based partner: Mount Airy
• Date launched: Nov. 4, 2019

Longtime online poker giant PokerStars partnered with Mount Airy Casino Resort in Mt. Pocono to launch the first online poker room in Pennsylvania in early November 2019, also launching its online casino at the same time. A great option for poker players who also like to play other casino games, everything — along with sports betting, too — is housed in one handy standalone client.

There are around 50 different choices of slots available, with Frog of Fortune, The Imperial Kitchen, Lion Storm, Turn Your Fortune, and the exclusive Stars Classic Slot among the most popular.

Unsurprisingly given the poker connection, there’s a wide range of table and card games in the PokerStars online casino. There’s blackjack, baccarat, and roulette, of course, but also many different “single hand” games like Jacks or Better, Joker Poker, Aces and Eights and more. There are multiplayer versions of these games, too, at a variety of stakes, as well as video poker.

Hollywood Casino

• Land-based partner: Hollywood Casino
• Date launched: July 15, 2019

After being the first to launch an online sportsbook in Pennsylvania, Hollywood Casino in Grantville was the technically the first to launch an online casino as well, beating Parx by a few hours.

Parent company Penn National Gaming partnered with multinational gambling company IGT to power the site which after a few small hiccups early on has become a go-to option for online casino game fans in the state.

There are more than 50 kinds of slots available, with Butterfly 2, Cash-o-Matic, Cleopatra, Da Vinci Diamonds, Double Stacks, Electric Tiger, Jumanji, and Wheel of Fortune among those featured.

Table and card games include blackjack, baccarat, and several different roulette games, plus video poker.

FanDuel Casino

• Land-based partner: Valley Forge
• Date launched: Jan. 24, 2020

Daily fantasy sports giant FanDuel jumped into the retail and online sportsbook market in a big way starting in 2018 and now has branched out to other casino games as well, starting in Pennsylvania. With Valley Forge Casino Resort in King of Prussia as its land-based partner, FanDuel has joined forces with IGT for its platform and GAN for account management.

FanDuel Casino got off to a fast start after launching a little over a week before Super Bowl LIV, using a number of promotions to hit the ground running and quickly become a leading revenue gainer among all the online casinos in the state.

The FanDuel online casino includes only a modest offering of slots, with favorites Cleopatra, Da Vinci Diamonds, Dead or Alive, Divine Fortune and others among the choices. Table games include the usual blackjack and roulette varieties.

Parx Casino

• Land-based partner: Parx
• Date launched: July 15, 2019

Parx Casino in Bensalem was one of the very first in the state to launch an online casino, partnering with industry vet GAN to provide a robust selection of casino games on its online platform from the get-go.

Like other online casinos in the state Parx offers slots, table games, and video poker, and intends to introduce live-dealer games as well. The slots selection is particularly large with around a 100 different choices, including all the Vegas classics like Atomic Meltdown, Cleopatra, Crown Egypt, DaVinci Diamonds, Pixies of the Forest, Tiger 7’s, Triple Diamond, Wheel of Fortune, Wolf Run and many more.

There are more table games at Parx than elsewhere, too, including blackjack, baccarat, several different roulette games and Jacks-or-better, as well as video poker.

PlayLive! Casino

• Land-based partner: Live! Hotel & Casino Philadelphia
• Date launched: Aug. 11, 2020

PlayLive! was the first online casino in the state to launch without an active land-based casino partner at the time. Although its owner, Cordish Companies, is an in-state licensee, its two properties in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh were still under construction when it launched its online product.

It launched with a fairly robust selection of games for a first-time operator, including a standard set of table games and video poker titles, plus nearly 100 slots. Its platform is provided by GAN.

PlaySugarHouse Casino

• Land-based partner: Rivers Philadelphia
• Date launched: July 17, 2019

Rivers Casino Philadelphia’s online casino is similar in all respects to the skin at BetRivers described above, with both run on a platforms provided by Rush Street Interactive.

Here players will find the same variety of options from several different game studios, with Dead or Alive, Divine Fortune, Double Ruby, Sparkling Roses, and Triple X Threat among the most popular slot selections. Table games (blackjack, baccarat, and roulette) and video poker are also favorites here.

Unibet Casino

• Land-based partner: Mohegan Sun Pocono
• Date launched: Nov. 13, 2019

European gaming giant Unibet partnered with Mohegan Sun Pocono in Wilkes-Barre to bring online casino games to Pennsylvania. The platform is the result of a collaboration between Unibet parent company Kindred and Scientific Games.

More than 70 different slots games are on offer, including all the favorites and popular ones like Cleopatra, Dead or Alive, Divine Fortune, Gonzo’s Quest and Siberian Storm. Among the table games there is blackjack (including an exclusive “micro stakes” version), baccarat, and a half-dozen routlette variants.

There is a jackpot game as well plus several video poker options, among them exclusive varieties of Deuces Wild and Jacks or Better.

Wind Creek Casino

• Land-based partner: Wind Creek Bethlehem
• Date launched: Aug. 5, 2020

Wind Creek launched Pennsylvania’s 11th online casino early in the state’s second year of iGaming. It took a little bit longer to get off the ground than others as a newcomer to the state, having only just acquired its land-based property in June last year. The casino’s former owner was Las Vegas Sands Corporation, controlled by SheldonAdelson, a noted opponent of online gambling. Sands sold the property to Wind Creek Hospitality, a tribal operator based in Alabama, who had no such qualms about launching an online product.

Wind Creek’s technology partner for the online casino is California-based PalaInteractive. The casino launched with 77 slots titles, 7 table games and 2 video poker titles. Wind Creek holds a poker license and Pala has a poker platform, but it remains to be seen whether they attempt to launch an online poker product.

PA online casino apps

While all Pennsylvania online casinos are available via web-based browsers on your laptop or desktop, nearly all are also accessible on mobile devices as an online casino app.

These Android and iOS (Apple) apps are free to download and in many respects feature the same functionality as the web-based versions of the online casino. They do, however, sometimes feature fewer games to choose from than their web-based counterparts.

Android users cannot download apps from the Google Play Store since it does not allow gambling apps. However they can download apps directly from the casino’s websites using their device’s browser.

Meanwhile iOS users face a different obstacle since Apple instituted a policy requiring gambling apps to be built on the native iOS (and not coded in HTML5). That forced new online casinos to build their own iOS apps.

As a result, some Pennsylvania online casinos offer iOS apps, some offer Android apps, some have both and one has neither. In some cases, such as BetRivers and FanDuel Casino, you access the online casino via the online sportsbook app.

Consult with your favorite site to see what options are currently available.

Like online casinos elsewhere, those in PA offer a wide variety of slots, table games, and video poker. Many also have plans to include “live-dealer” table games in which an actual dealer in a studio conducts the games.

Slots

If you like slots in retail casinos, you’ll discover slots in online casinos to be very similar.

They comprise by far the majority of games in PA online casinos and include many of the same favorites found in the brick-and-mortar realm. Even the games themselves are often identical, including classics like Cleopatra, Wheel of Fortune, and Wolf Run.

When playing slots online you can either search games by title or filter them in various ways, including by the studios that create the games such as IGT, NetEnt, Everi, and Konami. You can also often search by the number of reels, progressive jackpots, and in other ways that can’t so easily be done when playing live slots.

Table games

The most frequently found table games in PA online casinos are blackjack, baccarat, and roulette. Larger casinos feature multiple variants of each as well as different stakes.

Blackjack games often feature fun side bets, multi-hand games, and offer variants such as Blackjack Switch, Free Bet Blackjack, and Spanish 21.

Roulette almost always features either American or European roulette among other options.

Video poker

Video poker also greatly resembles what you find in a live casino, with the familiar Game King suite of games a popular option. There you’ll find all the favorite variants like Deuces Wild, Jacks or Better, and Double Bonus.

Live-dealer games

Live-dealer table games help make online casinos seem even more like the “real” thing. These involve playing games like blackjack, baccarat, roulette, three-card poker, casino hold’em, and other table and card games with a live dealer or croupier managing the action from a studio.

While you play you can chat via text with the dealers and other players, making the social component of the games even more comparable to what you’ll find in a retail casino.

No live-dealer games are available in Pennsylvania quite yet. State law requires that the studio be located within the state, and there is no such studio yet. However, Evolution Gaming has said it expects its new studio to open before the end of 2020. Live-dealer games should roll out quickly once that happens, as Evolution already has deals in place with some operators in the state.

Depositing at PA online casinos

Most online casinos in Pennsylvania provide a wide variety of depositing methods, typically including some or all of the following:

• ACH / eCheck
• credit cards (especially Visa and MasterCard)
• debit cards
• online banking / bank transfers
• PayPal
• Skrill
• Play+
• PayNearMe
• check
• cash at the casino cage

When it comes to withdrawals, there are typically fewer options available. These tend to include:

• ACH / eCheck
• PayPal
• check
• cash at the casino cage

Be sure to check with each online casinos to see which banking options are available. Also check with the sites to determine how long the different transactions take. Most are very fast (or even instantaneous), but some do take longer than others.

As found in online sportsbooks across the country, Pennsylvania’s online casinos all offer bonuses of various types to encourage players to sign up and continue playing. These vary depending on the online casino, though in most cases you will find the following:

Welcome bonus

In most cases, the welcome bonus comes in the form of no-risk bets that allow first-time users a way to try out the games without having to worry about losing money.

In some cases these welcome bonuses are no deposit bonuses, meaning you are simply given a small amount of money (usually from $10 to $25) with which you can play any of the available games. These bonuses cannot be withdrawn — you must wager the entire bonus — but you can keep the winnings you earn.

Other welcome bonuses are tied to making a first deposit. These matching bonuses usually match a first deposit 100% up to a certain maximum amount. Again, the bonus money cannot be withdrawn before it is wagered, and there is usually a time limit during which the bonus money must be used (e.g., 30 or 60 days).

Loyalty / rewards programs

Some online casinos offer ongoing loyalty programs that reward players with cash or “comps” according to how much they play, much like is found in brick-and-mortar casinos. Loyalty programs are more commonly found with online casinos than with online sportsbooks, and often will be linked to the retail casinos’ programs.

Other promotions

Most PA online casinos often offer ways to earn bonuses via promotions such as reload bonuses, double-points deals, referral bonuses, and more. Keep an eye out for these as they come along.

PA online casino FAQ

Below are some common questions and answers related to PA online casinos.

How many PA online gambling sites are there?

Interactive gaming permits are limited based on the number of casino licenses issued by the state. As things currently stand, that means there are 13 interactive permits available in each of these categories:

• Slots
  
• Table games
• Poker

That makes room for as many as 39 brands, but the number of licenses doesn’t necessarily equate to the number of sites. Each property can partner with multiple brands under its land-based license.

Pennsylvania operators need to be partnered with a PA casino licensee and display their brand prominently.

Who can gamble online in PA?

Broadly speaking, individuals located in the state who are 21 and over can participate. You do not have to be a resident of Pennsylvania to play.

Employees of land-based licensees and key employees of platform providers are excluded, as are individuals who are barred from land-based casinos and individuals who have elected to self-exclude.

What casino games are available online in PA?

In simple terms, online casino games and online poker games are all available. But the bill gives regulators reasonable latitude to approve a wide array of games.

Due to the unique taxation structure that penalizes slot play and favors table games and poker, some new game variants may be developed for the PA market that attempt to appeal to slot players while remaining within the definition of a table game or a poker game.

What are the tax rates for PA online gambling?

There are three distinct tax rates for online games:

• Slots: 54%
• Table games: 34%
• Poker: 16%

Tax is based on gross gaming revenue, defined as “the total of all cash or cash equivalent wagers […] minus the total of cash or cash equivalents paid out to to registered players as winnings.”

How much revenue does PA make from online gambling?

Visit this PA gambling expansion revenue page for a full breakdown from PlayPennsylvania.

Who regulates PA online gambling?

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) oversees all aspects of the PA interactive gaming industry.

PO Box 69060
Harrisburg, PA 17106-9060

Phone: (717) 346-8300
Email: [email protected]

PA online casinos are up and running, and growing fast.

If you are 21 years or older and inside Pennsylvania state lines, you can now enjoy online slots, table games, and video poker from your desktop computer or mobile devices.

This page contains all the information you need to start playing at online casinos in PA.

Below is a guide to the games you can play for free and for realmoney at PA online casinos. After that, you’ll find information on apps, bonuses, safety, and geolocationtechnology.

Regulated casinos also include protection for problem gamblers, which we cover at the end of this page.

Best online casinos in Pennsylvania 2020

Real money and free online casino games in Pennsylvania

You can play most games at PA casinos online for fun. Playing games in demomode, or with play-money chips, allows you to find the titles you like before you gamble.

The only category of games that are notavailable for free play is live dealer table games. You can watch them, though you will not be able to wager on them – at least yet.

The current offerings on real money online casinos in PA are growing, and fast. Casino sites regularly add new games as they are approved by the PA Gaming Control Board (PGCB).

We offer an overview of how diverse these casino game categories are. Keep in mind that the most prominent New Jersey online casinos offer more than 600 titles.

Play PA online casino games for real money

The number of Pennsylvania online casinos is now in double-digits. All of the PA casino apps are available 24/7 and offer online slots, video poker, and table games such as roulette, blackjack, and baccarat. Use this table to compare the real money casinos in PA.

PA online slots

Slots are the biggest category of games for any online casino. You can expect to see over 200 games listed on some sites and you’ll need some way to sort the list of slot titles.

Firstly, casinos will feature their most popular games. You can use filters to search by, e.g., the number of reels, game developer, progressive jackpots, and so on.

If you enjoy live casino slots, then you will be able to play a lot of these online. You can search by name, or browse the listings for IGT, Bally, or another live slot studio.

Many online casinos feature classic games, e.g., Wheel of Fortune, Cleopatra, and WolfRun. You can also find traditional three-reel slots. Online slot studios like IGT created these.

When you browse the tiled graphics for slots to enjoy, you’ll see progressivejackpots listed underneath many of them. These pools can get massive, up to $1 million or more.

Table games at PA online casinos

Tablegames are a broad category, although it mostly covers all the casino games played on the greenfelt.

While most are card-based, dice and roulette wheels also fall under table games. Live dealer games are in this category; however, we will cover them separately.

This list is for the software-based versions:

• Blackjack: There are a lot of variations of basic blackjack rules. These include games with side bets, multi-hand games and entertaining variants like Blackjack Switch, Free Bet Blackjack, and Spanish 21.
• Roulette: You can bet your favorite numbers or try complex betting systems with online roulette. Where available, choose the European roulette wheel because the single zero reduces the house edge.
• Casino poker games: A lot of card-based table games use poker-hand rankings. Online casinos have Caribbean Stud, three-card poker, Ultimate Texas Hold ’em, Let It Ride, Pai Gow Poker, and Casino Hold ’em.
• Baccarat: Two of the three bets you can place in baccarat have a very low house edge. As long as you avoid the “tie” bet, this favorite among high rollers can be entertaining.
• Craps: With two betting phases and the chance to go on a hot streak as long as no 7s are rolled, craps is a lively live casino game. This appears at some online casinos, which gives you a chance to learn the complex bets.

Live dealer casinos in Pennsylvania

In other states, live dealer table games have become the go-to for many players and soon, they’ll be available in PA. With these, you’ll bet online although the action will be dealt in real-time from studios in PA live casinos. Bets will settle automatically.

Games available include blackjack (where you play on a seven-handed table), roulette, three-card poker, Casino Hold ’em, and baccarat.

Keep in mind, you need to act before the timer runs down in these games. Otherwise, your hand will be folded (or you’ll stand), depending on the game.

You can chat via text with the dealers and other players while you play. The added social element, plus the ability to watch the cards being dealt, make these increasingly popular games.

Video poker and novelty games

PA casinos allow you to play video poker games online. These include bonus poker and multi-hand variations, as well as traditional titles.

Pennsylvania online casino apps

There are pros and cons to online casino apps compared to mobile-friendly websites.

With apps, you often find only a limited number of game titles, along with account and cashier functionality. Compared to the hundreds of games you can play on your browser, this is a significant drawback.

On the positive side, having the graphics stored on your phone helps the games initialize faster. If you have ever had to wait for a bonus game to load on your mobile device after you hit it on a slot, you know how frustrating this can be.

Are the online casinos in Pennsylvania safe?

All online casinos in PA are licensed and under the jurisdiction of the PennsylvaniaGaming Control Board (PGCB).

Players are protected by know your customer (KYC) guidelines and responsible gaming laws. The games are tested for integrity and fairness. A complaint and dispute process is available if necessary.

When it comes to Pennsylvania online casinos, you really can’t get any safer.

The PGCB stated early in the licensing process that they have a deliberate, slow approach. This includes testing periods for new apps and websites. With the licenses for online casinos in Pennsylvania held by local live casinos and racetrack casinos, you’ll have trusted brand names behind each of the apps.

A major concern for players new to casino games is the fairness of the spins or deals. At regulated casinos, games are regularly audited and the expected return-to-player (RTP) percentages are published. While each game has a small edge in favor of the house, you can be sure that you are getting a fair shot at winning and it’s in line with the published figures.

Casino bonus offers in Pennsylvania

With a lot of real money online casinos opening in PA in quick succession, you can be sure they will be competing to attract new players.

This means 2020 is a perfect time to take advantage of their marketing budgets. Casino bonuses take four primary forms, and not every casino will offer them all. If not, the bonuses they do offer will need to be generous.

Here are the main types of casino bonuses:

• No-deposit welcome bonus: A popular way to attract new players is to offer free play for registering. This bonus is usually a small amount (between $10 and $25). You’ll need to wager it a number of times before you can withdraw it. These offers can start your casino bankroll, if you get lucky. If not, then you’ll have a chance to check out the real-money slot titles without any personal risk.
• Matched deposit bonuses: This is the most common form of a casino welcome bonus in PA. Your first deposit will be matched 100%, usually up to around $300, though sometimes much higher. You then get 30 to 60 days to meet the specified playthrough (wagering) requirements.
• Loyalty/comp point schemes: Some casinos will tie their online comp point schemes together with their live casino. Others have separate schemes, with complex tier systems unlocking progressively bigger bonuses. For high rollers, these loyalty schemes often have a VIP level, too.
• One-off promotions: How active a casino is with promos can make a big difference to your bankroll over time. These vary widely, and include double points deals, reload bonuses, promos linked to new games and free chips for sharing on social media.

While nothing is stopping you from taking up several casino bonuses, keep in mind that these are restricted to one per household for each casino. Many players have been tempted to sign up their entire family for a free-play offer only to find their accounts to be closed down quickly.

Licensed and legal PA casinos vs. offshore casinos

For many years, the only way to play online casino games in Pennsylvania was to risk your money at offshore casinos. While there were some limited legal options with sweepstakescasinos, the new legal PA internet casinos effectively remove the need to take this risk.

Offshore casinos are usually based in the Caribbean or Central America and their legal status is uncertain. While their host nation licenses them, they are not recognized or licensed by any US authority and our banks are legally obliged to block payments to them.

A greater concern is the lack of oversight and controls. Many offshore casinos have disappeared over the years, and many players have faced significant issues getting their winnings paid. If you have a dispute with an offshore casino, there is no industry body or organization to help you.

With PA casinos under the watchfuleye of the PGCB, they are licensed to accept conventional payment methods and thoroughly tested. There is no longer any reason to risk playing at an offshore site.

Geolocation and PA casinos

You will be able to access the PA online casinos fromanywhere. However, playing games for real money and making deposits can only be made within PA state lines.

Pennsylvania casinos will not allow real-money play if there is any doubt about your location. In New Jersey, this led to a lot of “falsenegatives.” Players who were on mobile devices near state borders were sometimes flagged as being outside of the state.

Fortunately, those initial problems were ironed out and geolocation technology is more reliable.

If you are using a VPN or proxyserver, you might still experience issues. Mobile users on 4G and close to the state border who experience problems can download additionalgeolocationsoftware in some cases.

Wi-Fi data is difficult to fake, and if you are not using a VPN, desktop players are unlikely to experience geolocation issues.

Full list of casinos allowed to offer online gambling in Pennsylvania

In the first month of 2020, FanDuel Casino, BetAmerica, and BetRivers Casino launched just before the Super Bowl. The long-awaited Caesars Online Casino in partnership with Harrah’s Philadelphia followed in April.

Rivers Philadelphia (Formerly SugarHouse Casino) was the first brick-and-mortar casino to offer two different online casino skins under its casino license: PlaySugarHouse and BetRivers. The latter is integrated with the Rivers Pittsburgh online sportsbook that carries the same BetRivers name. Rivers Casino Pittsburgh did not obtain an online casino license.

On May 1, 2020, DraftKings Online Casino went live, becoming the second interactive gaming site under the Hollywood Casino license. Meadows, DraftKings’ land-based partner for online sports betting, does not hold an online casino license. But both Meadows and Hollywood are owned by Penn National Gaming, which has a market-access deal with DraftKings.

FanDuel and DraftKings originally launched online casinos that were integrated with their sportsbooks. Now, both have stand-alone online casino apps live in PA.

In late July 2020, Wind Creek Bethlehem dove into the online betting scene, launching the Wind Creek online casino through a partnership with Pala Interactive.

List of live Pennsylvania casinos

There are currently 12 licensed gambling properties in the state of Pennsylvania, with another casino in the works in Philadelphia’s Stadium Park.

According to PGCB, this includes 10 stand-alone and racetrack casinos and two smaller resort casinos. The former two are Category 1 and 2 casinos, while the latter falls into Category 3. These gaming establishments employ approximately 18,000 people and generate close to $1.4 billion in tax revenue annually.

In total, there are 12 casinos licensed to offer PA online blackjack, slots and roulette.

• Harrah’s Philadelphia
• Hollywood Casino
• Meadows Casino
• Mohegan Sun Pocono
• Mount Airy Casino Resort
• Nemacolin Woodlands Resort
• Parx Casino
• Presque Isle Downs
• Rivers Casino Pittsburgh
• Rivers Casino Philadelphia (formerly SugarHouse Casino)
• Wind Creek Casino Resort (formerly Sands Bethlehem)
• Valley Forge Resort Casino

Mini-casinos: The next phase of Pennsylvania casino development

As part of its gambling expansion law passed in October 2017, the state had the ability to issue up to tenCategory 4 licenses. These licenses allow for mini-casinos with 300-750 slots. A supplemental license costing $2.5 million allows these satellite casino properties to offer up to 30 table games as well.

The process for the issuance of mini-casino licensing involves a series of auctions. The preliminary auctions began in January 2018 and were limited only to the licensed Category 1 and 2 casinos. The first license went to Penn National, who spent $50.1 million to secure a location 50 miles south of its existing Hollywood Casino. During the first round of auctions, PGCB awarded five licenses.

The PGCB ran a second round of auctions on Sept. 3, 2019 but there were no bidders this time around. As a result, the five remaining licenses will go unclaimed. In all, $114 million in license fees were raised.

Pennsylvania problem gambling support

A system for self-exclusion for problemgamblers is available at live casinos in Pennsylvania.

This program involves filling out some forms, providing a photo ID, and voluntarily requesting one-year, five-year or lifetime exclusion.

A list of excluded people is distributed to all live casinos. Then it is the casinos’ responsibility is to prevent those people from entering gaming areas.

Removal from this list (for the shorter periods) does not happen automatically. After the period expires, individuals must request their removal personally.

Online gambling prevents new challenges when it comes to the management of problem gambling. For the majority to enjoy safe gambling online, support systems need to be in place for players who experience issues.

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Commission manages this support program.

Here is what legal Pennsylvania online casinos must provide:

• A prominentlink to their responsible gambling information page.
• Tools for time-out, self-exclusion and betting limits.
• A list of questions to assess whether you or someone you know has a gambling problem.
• Links to support organizations and therapists.

Support programs in the state include:

Pa Rivers Casino

Overview of Pennsylvania’s casino industry

The Pennsylvania casino industry is relatively young. Casinos only became legal in 2004. Yet, in the dozen or so years in existence, the industry quickly became a powerhouse. Now it is the second-largest commercial casino industry in the country judging by gross revenue, trailing only Nevada.

Thanks to steep tax rates, Pennsylvania casinos actually generate more tax revenue for the state than Nevada does. That number has gotten even bigger thanks to the gambling expansion law passed in the fall of 2017.

Here is a look at the history of the Pennsylvania casino industry, starting with the latest news and moving back towards the casino industry’s more humble beginnings:

The year began on a high, but that soon changed as the spread of COVID-19 led to the shuttering of all retail casinos and racetracks in PA by mid-March. That meant furloughs for casino employees and falling casino stock prices.

Online sportsbooks were also hit hard, with most sports sidelined for a lengthy period of time.

On a positive note, three more online casinos joined the market before the Super Bowl. The FanDuel online casino made quite a splash, surging to highest handle and revenue earner after its first full month in February.

The long-awaited Caesars sportsbook went live on March 10 in partnership with Harrah’s Philadelphia, bringing the state’s online sports betting apps to a total of nine. The Caesars online casino followed on April 23, making it nine internet casinos too. An online poker room under the WSOP.com name is expected to follow.

On May 1, DraftKings added an online casino product to its established online sportbook. Its online casino product is under the Hollywood Casino license, while the DraftKings sportsbook partners with Penn’s other PA property, The Meadows. Both FanDuel and DraftKings later debuted standalone online casino apps in June and July, respectively.

Wind Creek launched its first online product with an online casino in late July, and Live! Casino brought PlayLive! online casino to PA in mid-August. Live! was the only casino to launch iGaming ahead of retail openings, which are to follow in 2021.

Online wagering sparked and sportsbooks blossomed.

With sportsbooks, there were just three operations at the beginning of the year, and all were retail. By the end of the year, the Keystone State had 12 retail sportsbooks.

But eight online sportsbooks were also running by year’s end, with around 84% of all sports wagering done online. Taken together, sports betting took in more than a billion bucks in 2019.

Five online casino sites went live, the first ones launching in July, though a new Wire Act opinion likely slowed that market segment at the start.

And at long last, an online poker site finally launched. On Nov. 4, FOX Bet was joined by PokerStars Casino and PokerStars PA, making poker a reality in the Keystone State.

In October 2019, SugarHouse changed its name to Rivers Casino Philadelphia, but not before launching the first PA online sportsbook in May. PlaySugarHouse sportsbook and online casino still retain the SugarHouse name.

After a summer of bickering, the state legislature drafted a new version of the gambling expansion package, which both the House and Senate passed. Gov. Tom Wolf signed it into law on Monday, Oct. 30, 2018. The new law allows for a wide range of new gambling ventures, including:

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• Online casinos
• Video gambling terminals (VGTs)
• Daily fantasy sports (DFS)
• Satellite casinos
• Sports betting

It also offered a new class of license eliminating the amenity fee in place at Valley Forge and Lady Luck Nemacolin. Valley Forge paid the fee immediately after the bill became law.

New licensing fees brought in more than $311 million for the state.

The PA Lottery launched several new games and created the online platform iLottery.

A US Supreme Court ruling allowed sports wagering to begin and nine of 12 properties immediately applied for licenses.

Total gambling revenue topped $3.4 billion.

Legislation which would legalize and regulate online gambling in Pennsylvania, and offer online gaming licenses to the state’s 12 casino properties first, was passed by the Senate. In June 2017 it was amended and passed by the House, sending it back to the Senate.

The law was approved at the end of October.

The law ushered in sportsbook wagering and video game terminals at truck stops, and a new category of “mini-casinos” was created. As part of the expansion, horse racing money from casino slot revenue was encumbered in a trust fund. The slot money was originally set aside as part of the deal which led to the 2004 approval of casinos.

Casinos set a revenue record of $3.227 billion.

Lady Luck Casino Nemacolin opened in July 2013.

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Valley Forge Casino Resort opened its doors in March 2012 becoming the first Category 3 licensed casino in Pennsylvania.

After several ownership changes and failed financing plans with no construction to date, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board voted to revoke the Foxwoods Casino Philadelphia gaming license in December 2010.

SugarHouse Casino opened its first phase in Philadelphia in September 2010.

Pennsylvania passed a law in January 2010, authorizing table game operations at the state’s licensed racino, casino, and resort casino properties. The law also clarified the size and scope of gaming and other operations at the state’s three different categories of gaming licensees, including:

• Allowing up to 250 table games and 5,000 slot machines at Category 1 racino facilities
• Allowing 250 table games and 5,000 slot machines at Category 2 stand-alone casinos. These properties were also authorized to operate amenities including restaurants, spas, and entertainment options, but not hotels.
• Allowing up to 600 slot machines and 50 table games at Category 3 resort casinos. These gaming facilities can include attached hotels.

Parx Casino standalone gaming facility opened its doors in December .

Rivers Casino opened in Pittsburgh, PA’s Chateau neighborhood along the Ohio River in September.

Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem opened on the Bethlehem Works development site in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in May 2009. Table games were added in July 2010. The property officially changed ownership to the Poarch Band of Creek Indians in June 2019. The casino is now known as Wind Creek Bethlehem.

Hollywood Casino opened at Penn National racetrack in February 2008.

Mount Airy Casino Resort officially opened in the Poconos in November 2007, becoming the first Pennsylvania casino with lodging.

The Meadows Casino began as a temporary casino adjacent to the racetrack in Washington County, PA in June 2007. The permanent casino opened in 2009.

Presque Isle Downs casino and horse racing track near Erie, Pennsylvania opened in February 2007.

A slots parlor began operation at Harrah’s Philadelphia racetrack on the Chester waterfront. Table games went live at the property in 2010.

Parx Casino opened as a temporary gaming facility at the former Philadelphia Park racetrack in December 2006.

Foxwoods Casino Philadelphia is granted one of five stand-alone casino licenses for a soon-to-be-built property located along the Delaware River in South Philadelphia. The project fell apart, resulting in PGCB revoking the license in 2010.

Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs became the state’s first slot parlor after opening its doors in November 2006 at a harness track near Wilkes-Barre.

State lawmakers made a number of amendments to horse track security bill authorizing both the use of 61,000 slot machines at racetracks and other new casino locations across Pennsylvania. Lawmakers rushed the bill through the House and Senate over the Fourth of July weekend, then quickly became law before any real opposition to casino gambling had a chance to oppose it.

The bill ultimately authorized the issue of three separate categories of slot machine licenses. These included:

• Category 1 for existing racetracks.
• Category 2 for designated tourist areas, including two in Philadelphia and one in Pittsburgh.
• Category 3 for resorts.

Former Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell runs for Pennsylvania Governor. He wins on a campaign that includes support for the idea of allowing slot machines at racetracks in an effort to lower property taxes.

Under Then-Governor Tom Ridge the State Legislature came close to legalizing riverboat casinos. The state’s anti-gambling movement began to grow and Gov. Ridge said he would veto any gambling bill not approved by referendum. Eventually the entire idea was scrapped.

A statewide survey found 48 percent of Pennsylvania residents supported legalized riverboat gambling and just 38 percent were opposed. However, Then-Governor Robert P. Casey claimed to be opposed to gambling and threatened to veto any gambling legislation passed in the state.

First developed under Philadelphia Mayor Wilson Goode, and championed by mayoral successor Ed Rendell, a proposal to allow riverboat gambling in Philadelphia made it to the state legislature. The claim was it would create $25 million in new revenue for the city and 11,500 new jobs. However, the House of Representatives voted against it in November by a margin of 118-81.

Resorts Casino Hotel opened in Atlantic City, New Jersey, becoming the first legal casino in Atlantic City. Resorts and the rest of the Atlantic City Boardwalk is within 60 miles of Philadelphia. It quickly become evident that Pennsylvania residents are some of the budding Atlantic City casino industry’s best customers.