Key Takeaways
- The Pennsylvania House Gaming Oversight Committee vote in favor of its Chairman’s HB 649 legislation to regulate online poker and casino games is great news for the industry, but there is still a long lead time before any poker cards will be dealt on the virtual felt.
- The Poker Players Alliance is now lobbying hard for the legislation to pass. “Regardless of HB 649’s pathway to becoming law in Pennsylvania, we want to see Internet poker legislation enacted this year,” said Executive Director John Pappas.
The Pennsylvania House Gaming Oversight Committee vote in favor of its Chairman’s HB 649 legislation to regulate online poker and casino games is great news for the industry, but there is still a long lead time before any poker will be dealt on the virtual felt.
The Pennsylvania bill looks like it has a good chance of making it into law, if only because the state is crying out for extra revenue sources to fund its budget plans. However, the legislative process must still run its course, and thereafter, the Gaming Control Board (GCB) must set up an online regulatory system virtually from scratch.
