Pennsylvania Casinos Can Petition for Online Gambling Licences…NOW!

Pennsylvania Casinos Can Petition for Online Gambling Licences…NOW! April 27, 2018 July 19, 2018 Doug Carter
Posted on  Apr 27, 2018 | Updated on  Jul 19, 2018 by Doug Carter

pennsylvaniaIt’s been a long-time coming, but finally, land-based casinos in the state of Pennsylvania can petition to begin operating online versions of such. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) made the announcement yesterday, that current licensees are able to petition for interactive gaming certificates. Originally, April 16 was looked upon as being the date when this could start, but a slight delay in proceedings saw this pushed back.

Now, land-based establishments in the state will have 90 days in which to submit their petitions and apply for the ability to offer online casino and poker games. This is the moment that many of them have been waiting for, following the 2017 law in Pennsylvania that allows legal online gambling in the state. The application process will follow the petitioning stage, which is expected to begin towards the end of May and into June.

So, what’s the difference between these stages? Well, the first petitioning stage is the time when any of the 13 land-based casinos in the state can put themselves forward as being a potential online operator. Within this time period, these platforms may only apply for full licences. This means that they must be applying to provide slot games, poker and table games at their online sites. Doing so will cost them $10 million each.

What Does the Petition Incorporate?

The new law actually goes into a lot of detail about what the land-based establishments need to include in their petitions. As it stands, four pages of information about these contents is available to be read. This means that the licensees need to provide a significant amount of information about various areas.

The Director of Communications for the PGCB, Doug Harbach spoke of this stage as being a little different than just a standard application. The operators have to send in a legal petition to the Gaming Control Board, he said. This is due to the fact that there are a lot of details that they need to provide as part of that petition.

To provide an example of what is necessary, potential online operators need to provide a list of the interactive games – as well as the type of category that each of these exists in. Furthermore, any other game(s) that the slot machine licensee intends to provide through its site. Any changes in this number and/or category must also be provided to the board in future.

However, should the petition be granted, the casino will then fully apply and be authorised to provide online gaming to players. Of course, as mentioned, this can only occur within a 90-day period. What happens after this period of time? Well, a new 30-day period will start for the casinos to apply for a $4 million licence to offer just one of the three different types of gambling. If licences remain after this secondary time period, they will be opened up to what are described as “qualified gaming entities” existing outside of Pennsylvania.

Doug CarterAuthor

Doug loves to party in Las Vegas, though always playing responsibly, as our North American poker writer he will be keep us informed with the latest tournaments, players to look out for as well.