Pennsylvania senator recommends a study of online gambling

Pennsylvania state senator Kim Ward is considering sponsoring a study to examine gambling in Pennsylvania, and this week urged fellow lawmakers to look at the effects of legalised online gambling in other states before it considers legalisation initiatives.

Senator Ward, who is chairwoman of the state Senate Community, Economic and Recreational Development Committee, said:

“We want [gambling businesses] to survive here and to prosper, because it puts money in our coffers,” adding that there are concerns around legalising online games, including fears that it may result in loss of revenue among land casinos and the Pennsylvania Lottery.

Pennsylvania casinos have lost revenue to competition in nearby states, Ward said, citing Ohio casinos that opened in 2012. Table game revenue at Presque Isle Downs and Casino in Erie County declined 31 percent to $15 million between fiscal years 2011-12 and 2012-13, and much of that dip is attributed to the opening of the Horseshoe Cleveland casino, officials said.

Those issues will be aired on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, when gaming industry leaders from around the world and state gambling regulators attend the online gaming conference, the World Regulatory Briefing USA, in Philadelphia.

“We’re basically hoping to learn more about how other states, jurisdictions and even some international jurisdictions, how they would approach Internet gambling … or those jurisdictions that do have legislation that has passed,” said Kevin O’Toole, executive director of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.

But Rep. Mauree Gingrich, chairwoman of the House Committee on Gaming Oversight, said that online gambling is not a priority, nor is it under consideration in Pennsylvania.

“We do not have any estimates on potential additional revenues resulting from Internet gaming,” she said. “Of course, before that could be accomplished, a tax rate, license fees, the regulatory structure would all have to be a part of the equation.”

In April this year, state Rep. Tina Davis introduced a bill that would have put the Gaming Control Board in charge of regulating online gaming in the state, including determining which games could be offered. The bill stalled in the House committee .

Holly Wetzel, spokeswoman for the American Gaming Association, which favours the federal regulation of online poker alone, told the publication Tribune Live that most of her organisation’s members believe online poker would complement land casino activity.

But she noted that the AGA will be watching developments in New Jersey closely, because that populous state would soon offer online gambling in the wider sense.

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