The state of Pennsylvania is one of just a small handful of individual states that are close to moving forward with online poker gaming. Legislation continues to be introduced to try and get the ball rolling with online poker within the state’s borders. The most recent legislation is a bill created by Representative Tina Davis. The new bill, HB920 would allow online poker and casino gaming within the state of Pennsylvania.
Davis is not new to introducing legislation for online game play. Back in 2013, Davis introduced a similar legislation to HB920 but the bill ended up stalling in committee. According to OnlinePokerReport, the new bill seems to be almost identical to Davis’ 2013 legislation.
The bill by Davis is one of three introduced this year, including HB649 by Representative John Payne. Davis’ bill does have support of eleven sponsors, while a third bill is also looking to pass online gaming, this one introduced by Representative Nick Miccarelli, with HB695.
The state of Pennsylvania will now see two hearings take place within the House Committee on Gaming Oversite on the subject of online gambling legalization. On April 16th, a hearing will take place on Internet Gaming and Mobile Gaming. This hearing has been on the books for some time while an additional hearing has now been scheduled for May 6th titled Internet Gaming.
Speaking with OPR, John Pappas, the Executive Director of the Poker Players Alliance, has stated that lawmakers of Pennsylvania are taking iGaming seriously. Pappas stated that the hearing in May will provide a forum in which to make the best case as to why the Commonwealth needs to act this year in regards to online gaming. Pappas has little doubt that opponents of online gaming will be out in full force and proponents need to be prepared to crush rhetoric with facts.
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