Pennsylvania Online Gambling Bill Rejected

In a vote of 107-81 the Pennsylvania online gambling bill was rejected by the House of Representatives.

According to US gambling news
, the Pennsylvania online gambling bill, that would’ve created consumer protection laws for online players, was rejected by the House of Representatives. The bill merged the topic of online gambling in Pennsylvania with the plans for the expansion of video gaming terminals. Experts of US gambling laws
say that the legalization of internet casinos in Pennsylvania might be reconsidered individually.

Before the voting, Representative John Payne, told lawmakers that they should not use ‘protection of citizens’ as an excuse for voting against regulated online gambling in Pennsylvania. “What we are providing in this bill is consumer protection,” said Representative George Dunbar. Payne highlighted that the he drafted the bill “to bring protections to my children, my grandchildren, the compulsive gamers.”

Pennsylvania online gambling bill might be reconsidered individually

Dunbar raised attention to the accessibility of online casinos in Pennsylvania. “I can walk out of this building and play poker tonight at the Radisson Hotel. I can use a credit card to do it,”  he said. What Dunbar described is true. However, players are not protected against scams and fraud, as Pennsylvania gambling laws don’t provide consumer protection to online gamblers.

The bill would’ve allowed for both online gambling and daily fantasy sports in Pennsylvania, but only if run by licensed brick-and-mortar casinos within the state. “We would have never agreed to invest $659 million in Pennsylvania if we thought this was coming,” said Michael Bean, CEO of Mohegan Sun.

On the contrary, the CEO of Sands Bethlehem, Mark Juliano, was happy with the decision. Juliano said that Sands believes “in an integrated gambling and entertainment model that has proven very successful for us and Pennsylvania.” Juliano said that the legalization of online gambling would go against everything they’ve built in the state. Representative Mike Schlossberg voted against the bill because he is worried about the jobs of casino employees, addiction, and crime.