Pennsylvania Senate passes bill to legalize online gambling and poker games

This year has been very significant for the State of Pennsylvania over the legalization of online poker and casino gambling. As per reports, the State’s Senate has passed the bill that legalizes online poker and online casino games throughout the Pennsylvania state.

The full House voted on this bill on Thursday morning. It is predicted that gambling expansions especially the legalization of various forms of online wagering will help the state of Pennsylvania with its $2.3 billion budget deficit. And, according to reports with the majority vote of 109 to 72, the state of Pennsylvania has finally passed a law that will legalize online poker and online casino gambling.

The Pennsylvania gaming bill, named as H 271, was revised on Wednesday afternoon to include various governmental suggestions. It was passed with a majority of 17 to 1 and 31 to 19 in the full Senate on Thursday morning.

The gaming H 271 bill will legalize online slots, table games and poker. It will also regulate daily fantasy sports, permit online lottery products, allow video gaming terminals, permit tablet gambling at some airports, etc. The bill is also said to allow up to 10 satellites casinos. Moreover, with the gambling expansions, the taxes will also increase. Currently, table game and poker taxes are set at 14%, with a 2% additional charge for the local rate. This 2% additional charge applies to online slots too, it would be added to set tax rate of 52%.

Now that online gambling has been legalized in the state, the right step for Pennsylvania land-based casinos is to first apply for online casino licenses. These must be applied within 90 days with the cost of $10 million per license. However, if applied after that but before the 120 days mark, the fees will drop to $4 million per license.