What has Pennsylvania gotten itself into with an extremely high tax rate for online casino games? We’re close to finding out. In October 2017, PA Gov. Tom Wolf signed massive gaming bill into law, effectively authorizing real money online poker and casino games which will form part of a large-scale statewide gambling expansion. As regulated US iGaming interests prepare to launch their offerings to the Keystone State market — perhaps as early as this year — here is a look at the 54 percent effective slot revenue tax rate that internet casino operators will be responsible for paying to various…

Daily fantasy sports, long living in a legal gray area in many states, are now 100 percent OK in Pennsylvania — and 15 percent taxed. Six fantasy sports sites, including DraftKings and FanDuel, are registered to legally operate under a state law that went into effect Saturday and was part of a larger statewide gaming expansion. But don’t sweat, players: Competitors on those six sites aren’t likely to see any change in play and won’t need to reregister. “As far as the game participation for the player, they’re really not going to see anything different than they have before,” Gaming…

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board has released an online gambling FAQ document designed to help people better understand the forthcoming online gaming industry. There’s nothing new or groundbreaking in the two-page document, but one aspect of the law that has been underreported is a prohibition on online casino and online poker at any of the 12 land-based casinos in Pennsylvania. The reason for this ban is protectionist. A false narrative was pushed during the gaming debate in the state that led to not only this strange prohibition, but also the exorbitant tax rate on online slots. The fear was that…

It’s still too early to tell how both land-based casinos and online gambling platforms are going to deploy iGaming in Pennsylvania, less than two weeks after the state legalized online poker and casino games. But that didn’t stop PokerStars from broaching the subject, at least in broad terms, in the earnings call for its parent company — Stars Group — this week. PokerStars, understandably, is excited about the prospect of expanded online gambling in the US. For now, that comes in the form of the Pennsylvania market, which it hopes to serve alongside New Jersey. It is the current market…

After last week’s frantic activity in the Pennsylvania state legislature, we expected this to happen, but nonetheless, it is a relief that on Monday, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf signed the gambling expansion bill that will, among other things, legalize online gambling, including poker. The Pennsylvania Senate passed HB 271 on Wednesday by a 31-19 vote and the House passed it Thursday morning, 109-72, sending the gambling bill to Governor Wolf’s desk. It was expected he was sign it and he did not disappoint in that regard, announcing at the Pennsylvania Press Club luncheon in Harrisburg on Monday that he did…

Pennsylvania iGaming has been rejected by the State Senate as part of a House-approved plan to fund the budget this week. For anyone thinking that’s a bad omen for the prospects of Pennsylvania online poker and gambling, think again. Even as the Senate was rejecting a budget plan by a wide margin, negotiations continue behind the scenes. Observers believe that there is a sweet spot between the Republican plan and one backed by the Senate and Gov. Tom Wolf. That would mean splitting the difference between one-time and recurring revenue that the two sides favor. A compromise certainly makes sense,…