Pennsylvania’s 2015 attempt at regulating online gambling is picking up steam.
Only days after the House Gaming Oversight Committee announced a hearing on the subject in April, the chair of that committee – Rep. John Payne (R – 106) – introduced an online gambling bill.
The bill is HB649. Payne originally disclosed his intention in a co-sponsorship memoranda.
“We are currently facing a projected $2 billion budget shortfall,” said Payne in a statement.
“I think it’s important we consider all responsible options to boost revenue before we consider asking our taxpayers for more money to fill that deficit.”
Full text of bill is available here.
HB 649 originally defined “Authorized game” as “any interactive poker game approved by the board under this chapter.”
But a “corrected” version of the bill submitted a few days later updated that definition to “any interactive game approved by the board under this chapter.”
Other details of the bill:
Full text of bill is available here; read the co-sponsorship memoranda here and sign up for alerts on HB649 here.
Introduction of a bill in Pennsylvania will provide the first test of the recently-minted alliance between PokerStars and Caesars.
It will be interesting to parse the public statements, testimony and positions of both companies for clues as to just how close the coordination is – and what, if any, larger relationship might be developing between Caesars and PokerStars’ owner Amaya.
To my knowledge, PokerStars has never identified a land-based partner in Pennsylvania, as opposed to New Jersey, where the company plans to operate in cooperation with Resorts.
The primary counterweight to the pro-regulation advocacy of Caesars and Amaya is, of course, Sheldon Adelson (Parx head Bob Green has also sounded ambivalent notes about online gambling, but stopped short of outright opposition).
Adelson has reportedly been a driving force behind a federal bill – The Restoration of America’s Wire Act – that would ban regulated online gambling.
But Pennsylvania is arguably a trickier theatre for Adelson, whose Las Vegas Sands operates one of Pennsylvania’s most-successful land based casinos in Sands Bethlehem:
It will be interesting to see how Adelson and his supporters modulate their approach in Pennsylvania, if at all. Their reactions to the bill in the coming days and approach to the upcoming hearing in April will likely provide clear indications of the strategy to come.