Pennsylvania becomes fourth US state to approve online gambling

At long last, Pennsylvania legislators have approved a sweeping expansion of gaming, including intrastate online gambling.

On Thursday morning, Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives approved HB-271, which authorizes online casino and poker sites, daily fantasy sports, online lottery sales, mobile gambling at airports, 10 new ‘satellite’ casinos, video gaming terminals at select truck stops and – provided there’s a change in federal law – legal sports betting.

HB-271 was approved by the state Senate on Wednesday, but 279 pages worth of amendments caused House reps to demand more time to process the changes. The House reconvened Thursday morning at 8am, and following several hours of rather pointless debate, voted to approve the measure by a margin of 109-72, leaving only Gov. Tom Wolf’s signature for the bill to become law.

Among the amended bill’s more contentious surprises was the imposition of a 54% tax on online slots revenue, mirroring the state’s industry-high land-based rate, while online poker and casino table game taxes were set at a more reasonable 16%.