Pa Casinos Restrictions

COVID-19 restrictions: Here's what's reopening throughout the state on Monday. York Daily Record. Casinos also will be able to open at 50% capacity. Museums, aquariums and zoos. Gaming Control Board has temporarily banned customers from smoking inside of the state’s casinos, according to PennBets. Doug Harbach, the spokesperson for the Gaming Control Board. Pennsylvania’s latest coronavirus restrictions on indoor dining, casinos, sports and more: What you need to know Anthony Salamone, The Morning Call A Dolly Parton statue may be. Travelers age 11 and older visiting Pennsylvania or returning from another state, must have a negative COVID-19 test within the past 72 hours. Otherwise they must quarantine for 14 days following. Some casinos in nearby regions are closing ahead of the holiday week. Rivers Philadelphia is the nearest casino outside Atlantic City. But come Friday, November 20, and lasting through at least.

1. Pa Online Casinos
2. Are Pennsylvania Bars Open

• Year Pennsylvania Regulated Gambling: Horse racing (1963), Lottery (1972), Bingo (1981), Slot Casinos (2004), Table Games (2010)
• Estimated Tax Revenue from Gambling: $2.8 billion
• Estimated Gambling Revenue: $6.8 billion
• Pennsylvania Gambling Age: 18 for lottery, bingo, and racing, 21 for casinos
• Smoking ban: Pennsylvania permits casinos to set aside a percentage of the floor for smoking areas
• Online gambling status: Horse racing is the only form of legal online gambling

Pennsylvania is the second largest casino state in terms of gambling revenue. Most of the state’s casinos are racetracks with attached casinos. There are three resort-style Pennsylvania casinos. Those offer fewer slots than the main gaming establishments in the state. This is unusual compared to most other states where casinos offer amenities. Most Pennsylvania casinos offer little more than gambling on slots, video poker, and table games.

Casinos are not the only forms of Pennsylvania gambling within the state. There is a state lottery that sells instant games and holds lotto drawings. There are live horse racing and off-track betting. Charities may hold limit games of chance to raise funds.

Paying Gambling Taxes in Pennsylvania

Do you have to pay taxes on your gambling winnings? OnlineUnitedStatesCasinos has gathered everything you need to know about paying taxes on your gambling winnings straight from a Certified Public Accountant. For more information please visit our exclusive Gambling Taxes article.

Pennsylvania Casinos Map & Guide

• Harrah’s
• Parx Casino
• Rivers Casino
• Sands Bethlehem
• Sugarhouse Casino

• Number of B&M Casinos: 12
• Number of Poker Rooms: 10
• Number of Indian Casinos: 0

Types of Pennsylvania Online Gambling Allowed

There is only one form of legalized online Pennsylvania gambling. That is off-track betting on horses. Sites like TVG, TwinSpires, and XpressBet partnered with Pennsylvania tracks to offer this service over the Internet and on mobile apps.

Daily fantasy sports sites claim to be legal in Pennsylvania. There is no law on the books that expressly states that. The companies claim to be skill gaming sites. There are bills under consideration by the Pennsylvania Legislature that would make daily fantasy sports a regulated and legal activity. DraftKings, FanDuel, CBS Sports, and Yahoo! are among the sites that accept Pennsylvania players.

Types of Live Pennsylvania Gambling

• Slots: Yes
• Blackjack: Yes
• Poker: Yes
• Craps/Roulette: Yes
• Horses: Yes
• Lottery: Yes

Pennsylvania gambling offers nearly every form of betting they want in the state. Pennsylvania casinos started out only offering slots, video poker, and electronic table games. That expanded to live poker, blackjack, craps, roulette, and nearly any house-banked card game one can imagine. There are 12 Pennsylvania casinos with one more in the planning stage.

Pa Online Casinos

There are seven racetracks in Pennsylvania. These offer live racing and race books. These tracks moved into the casino business. That helped keep the racing industry above water.

The Pennsylvania Lottery sells scratch-off tickets and lotto drawings. These are available at thousands of convenience stores across the state. There are Pennsylvania-only lotto drawings that include Pick 2, Pick 3, Pick 4, Pick 5, Cash4 Life, Cash5, and Match 6. The Pennsylvania Lottery also participates in multi-state lottery drawings. These are Powerball and Mega Millions.

Bingo is permissible if spread by a charity. There are more than a dozen licensed bingo halls in the state.

Pennsylvania Gambling Laws

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board is permitted to issue 14 casino licenses. Seven were guaranteed to the state’s racetracks. There were five standalone Pennsylvania casino licenses awarded. Two resorts receive licensure. A third resort will receive a license in 2017 to bring the total to 15 Pennsylvania casinos within its borders.

Casinos in Pennsylvania pay a tax rate of 55 percent on slots, video poker, and electronic table games. Live poker and table games have a tax rate of 16 percent.

Charities may apply for a bingo license. These cost $100 and are active for one year. Bingo games may have no prize larger than $250 for a single game except for the jackpot drawing. That bingo game may have a $2,000 prize pool. The largest amount of money that may be awarded in one day by a bingo charity is $4,000. Bingo halls may not spread more than two nights of action a week. Exceptions are made for charities that only hold annual celebrations. These nonprofit groups can hold 10 consecutive days of bingo games.

The Pennsylvania Lottery may only spread two types of games. One is instant games, sometimes referred to as scratch-off tickets. The other is lotto drawings. The Pennsylvania Lottery holds its own drawings as well as joins multi-state pools.

Horse racing is active in Pennsylvania. Seven tracks are licensed to offer live races. Each has a race book. Horse racing tracks may partner with online betting apps for remote wagering. Players may make deposits and withdrawals at the partner tracks.

The minimum Pennsylvania gambling age is 18 years of age, except for casinos, where the minimum gambling age is 21. Bingo participants may be under 18 if accompanied by an adult.

List of Pennsylvania Casinos

There are 12 Pennsylvania casinos open and currently operating. Seven are at racetracks that also offer live and simulcast betting, and the rest are casino resorts.

History of Pennsylvania Gambling

Horse racing was the first form of legalized gambling in Pennsylvania. Its regulation started in 1964. The racing industry dated back more than 200 years before that. Dozens of tracks operated off the book races where the betting was handled through underground networks. It took until 1964 for the state to determine it was better off regulating and taxing the racing industry than to let it operate without any oversight.

The Pennsylvania Lottery was created by Act 91 on August 26, 1971. The first lottery ticket was sold on March 7, 1972. It was a half-dollar drawing with a $1 million grand prize. The Pennsylvania Lottery joined interstate drawings on June 27, 2002.

The Racehorse Development and Gaming Act was signed into law by Governor Ed Rendell on July 5, 2004. This permitted racetracks to add slots, video poker and electronic table games. It was created to help save the state’s racing industry. Table games and live poker were added in January 2010.

The new table games helped Pennsylvania’s gambling industry explode. The state surpassed New Jersey as the second highest state in terms of gaming revenue in 2012. Pennsylvania has retained that title ever since. Nevada is the only state with more gaming revenue than Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania looked again to expand gambling in 2013. This time, it was over the Internet. Multiple attempts have included online poker and casino games. None has reached the assembly or senate floor for a vote.

The Pennsylvania Legislature is also looked to expand gambling to daily fantasy sports in 2016. Those talks have also failed to produce a new law regulating and taxing the contests.

Pennsylvania Casinos & Gambling FAQ

The minimum Pennsylvania gambling age is determined by the types of gambling they want to use. Lottery and racing players must be at least 18. Pennsylvania casino players must be 21 years of age or older. Bingo players must be at least 18 unless accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Slots, video poker, electronic table games, live poker, blackjack, baccarat, Pai Gow, Three Card Poker, Four Card Poker, Ultimate Texas Hold’em, Let it Ride, Mississippi Stud Poker, Texas Hold’em Bonus and Caribbean Stud Poker are among the approved games at Pennsylvania casinos.

Yes. All seven horse racing tracks in Pennsylvania offer race books.

Are Pennsylvania Bars Open

The only form of online gambling legal in Pennsylvania is off-track betting on horses.

State law does not cover daily fantasy sports. Sites like DraftKings, FanDuel, CBS Sports and Yahoo! claim that the contests are skilled games.

Pennsylvania generates more gaming revenue than any other state except Nevada.

The Pennsylvania Lottery sells scratch-off and lotto tickets.

Every county in Pennsylvania is still in the green phase, which means that casinos in Pennsylvania are open. However, there are additional regulations. On Tuesday, Governor Tom Wolf nixed bar service. As part of new restrictions, bars can’t serve alcohol unless it is with a meal.

What does this mean for PA casinos? No drink service or sitting at the bar, and a lower capacity limit at restaurants.

Rise in COVID-19 cases

A recent rise in COVID-19 cases influenced the decision for increased statewide mitigation efforts. Governor Wolf and Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levinesigned new orders that take effect at 12:01 a.m. Thursday, July 16.

“During the past week, we have seen an unsettling climb in new COVID-19 cases,” Gov. Wolf said. “When we hit our peak on April 9, we had nearly 2,000 new cases that day, with other days’ cases hovering around 1,000. Medical experts looking at the trajectory we are on now are projecting that this new surge could soon eclipse the April peak. With our rapid case increases, we need to act again now.”

According to a June 23 press release, Pennsylvania continues to ramp up contact tracing efforts. As of June 18 (the most recent data available), there were 518 contact tracers, and 4,161 contacts under investigation.

Wardle commented about contact tracing:

“Our case investigations have provided us with information that bars and restaurants are the sources of some of the increases in cases.”

PA casinos open, but not their bars

Casinos can stay open as part of Gov. Wolf’s new orders.

Pennsylvania Department of Health spokesperson Nathan Wardle clarified for PlayPennsylvania:

“Casinos can remain in operation with the previously announced mitigation orders on masking and social distancing in place, but bars and restaurants within a casino will be impacted by the new orders issued by the governor and Secretary of Health, as well as private events that might be held within a casino.”

Updated restrictions for bars and restaurants include:

• Prohibition from conducting operations unless the facility offers sit-down, dine-in meals or is providing takeout sales of alcoholic beverages. All service must be at a table or booth. No bar service.
• Alcohol can only be served for on-premises consumption when sold in the same transaction as a meal.
• Occupancy may not exceed 25% for indoor dining, or 25 persons for a discrete indoor event or gathering in a restaurant. The maximum occupancy limit includes staff. (The previous occupancy limit for indoor dining was 50%).

Updated health and safety guidelines at PA casinos

Another fixture of casinos is now (temporarily) absent from the gaming experience. Wardle confirmed that casinos are may not sell alcoholic beverages on the gaming floor.

Last week, due to an updated mandate that masks must be worn in all public spaces, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) informed casinos that smoking was temporarily banned.

All 12 of Pennsylvania’s brick-and-mortar casinos closed by March 17. What was at first expected to be a two-week shutdown turned into over one hundred days of darkness. Rivers Casino Pittsburgh and The Meadows were the first casinos to welcome back guests on June 9.

Casinos in the state must follow the PGCB’s COVID-19 Casino Reopening Protocols. They detail the minimum safety and health-related requirements that are mandatory before reopening.

Some key points include:

• Casinos can reopen at 50% capacity
• Employees and guests must wear masks.
• There must be markings on the floor to promote social distancing.
• Enhanced cleaning must be done throughout the facility.
• Poker rooms are not authorized to operate due to players’ handling of cards and chips.