Pennsylvania casinos sue state to halt iLottery slot-style games

Pennsylvania casino operators are going to court to stop the state lottery from horning in on what they claim is their exclusive turf.

On Wednesday, the Pennsylvania Casino Gaming Coalition filed a lawsuit in Commonwealth Court against the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue, which has oversight over the Pennsylvania Lottery, and Department Secretary C. Daniel Hassell. The Coalition is seeking an injunction to halt the Lottery’s new online iLottery games.

The iLottery games, which launched in May, have proven quite popular with the state’s gamblers. But the casinos note that the games were originally promoted as “slot-style” and “casino-style” despite last year’s legislation explicitly forbidding the Lottery from offering online games that “simulate casino-style games.”

The Coalition, which represents seven of the state’s 13 licensed casinos, also objects to the fact that the state’s as-yet unlaunched online casinos will only be accessible by state residents aged 21 years or older, similar to rules for entering land-based gaming floors, while the iLottery site accepts customers as young as 18 years.