Third Online Poker Bill Introduced in Pennsylvania

2015 has seen a major push by some of Pennsylvania’s state politicians to legalize and regulate online poker in the eastern US State.

In February, state politician John Payne introduced a bill into Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives that aims to licence and regulate online poker operators who wish to open up in the state.

That bill is still being debated in the House, and a vote on it may be held in the near future. However, Mr Payne’s online poker bill, known as House Bill 649, is not the only pro-online poker bill to be introduced in the state this year.

This week, another bill was introduced in Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives by another state politician, Tina Davis. The bill, known as House Bill 920, bears similarities to Mr Payne’s bill in that it also aims to charge prospective online poker operators a US$5 million licence fee to operate in the state.

However, one of the main differences with Ms Davis’s bill is that it would only allow casinos that are already licenced in Pennsylvania to offer online gaming and poker.

Another stark difference between Davis’s bill and Payne’s bill is the amount of gaming revenue tax they both propose.

Payne’s bill has put forward the gaming revenue tax rate of 14 per cent, while Davis’s bill has put forward double the tax rate at 28 per cent for all online gaming revenues generated by an online gaming market in the state.

The 28 per cent rate is likely to be seen as highly unfavourable with any prospective online gaming and poker operators regardless of whether they’ll be run by casinos already firmly established in the state.

While Pennsylvania’s population of 13 million people may lead to solid online poker traffic numbers (perhaps 400-600 players), that may not be enough to justify the establishment of an online poker operation with the higher tax rate.

It is largely because of this that Payne’s bill is likely to be seen as more favourable by online poker operators. However, the latest bill by Ms Davis shows that many of Pennsylvania’s legislators are now warming to the idea of regulated online poker and gaming.

It also shows that they see online poker as a reasonable pastime and an industry that may be valuable for the state’s economy.

This also increases the likelihood of Pennsylvania becoming one of the next US states to have a legal and regulated online poker and gaming market.