Pennsylvania is one of the few states in the USA where land-based and online casinos are legal. Sportsbooks are allowed at licensed-casinos and race-tracks. The state was among the first to introduce this option in June of 2018, right after the famous overturn of PASPA in 2018.

There are more than 11 land-based casinos in Pennsylvania, up to 10 licensed slot operators, commercial race-track, and a state-regulated lottery. Many other activities, such as charitable gambling, are allowed, as well. Online casinos must be virtual lobbies of those land-based venues that were licensed by the state or have to be affiliated with the brick-and-mortar brands at least in some way.

The entire gambling industry is regulated by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. Gross wins on slot machines in the state are subject to 54% tax. There is a 36% tax on sports betting gross wins, and a 16% on gross wins from table games. The legal age for gambling is 18 years for bingo, lotteries, and race betting, and 21 years for casino games, interactive operators, poker, and Sportsbook.

Pennsylvania was among the first states to fully legalize gambling back at the beginning of the 2000s. This places Pennsylvania into a small group of states with full-scale commercial casino gambling, next to New Jersey, Ohio, Delaware, New York, and West Virginia.

Based on the official statistics, gross gambling turnover of gaming in Pennsylvania reached 53 million USD in 2020 and is expected to grow to 87 million USD by 2025.

In addition to an array of state-licensed online casinos for Pennsylvania, players from this state can enjoy an array of international brands. These should have licenses from Curacao, Cyprus, Costa Rica, or several other lenient jurisdictions and clearly state that they accept traffic from the USA.

The state regulations are very clear regarding international gaming – players will not be punished.

In the year 2020, our research shows, onshore online casinos brough in 900+ million USD in gross wins for players. By the year 2025, this number is predicted to be twice as big. Surprising dynamics for international gambling brands are gross wins in them reached 66 million USD in the year 2020 and may drop to 7.6 million USD by 2025. This is rarely seen in states where online gambling is not allowed and only goes to show that smart regulations keep players loyal to in-home brands. This also has a positive impact on the state treasury.

Popular Live Blackjack in Pennsylvania-Friendly Online Casinos

The specifics of local gambling in the USA show that most of the software developers favor live blackjack, roulette, and baccarat, and have little to no live poker games and game shows.

One of the most popular live blackjack games that we can recommend is 7 Seat Live Blackjack by ViG. The developer streams it from a custom-built studio. Bets here start at 5 to 10 USD. At peaks, there will be times where you will have to wait a little bit before a seat becomes available. What’s great, however, is the fact that there is unlimited bet behind at most every live dealer blackjack table. This means that you can still have fun while you wait.

To play this and other live blackjack games from Visionary iGaming, check Bovada Casino among others.

Favorite Live Roulette in Pennsylvania-Friendly Online Casinos

European, American, and French roulette variations are among the most frequently offered live streams for Pennsylvania. In American Roulette, one can place a Straight Up bet on 00 as well as a Basket bet which is a five-number wager on 0,00, 1, 2 and 3, paying 6:1 (though we wouldn’t recommend the latter as it makes the house edge go up to 7.89%). European and French Roulette, on the other hand, feature Call bets which combine numbers according to their positions on the wheel rather than the table.

Vegas Crest Casino has a great selection of live roulette games and welcomes its newbies with a hefty sign-up bonus.

Due to the fact that gambling is legal in the state, the stats show peculiar tendencies. For instance, residents of the state are generally more relaxed about lotteries. They either play them less or participate partially (or sometimes even purchase tickets and forget to check the results) because so many other betting activities and games of chance are allowed in the area.

Land-Based and Online Casinos in Pennsylvania

Casinos were legalized in the state in 2004. However, the first land-based gambling venue did not open until 2007. By the day we were ready to publish this review, there were slightly more than 10 brick-and-mortar lobbies operating across the state, with some of the most popular being Harrah’s Philadelphia, Holl Casino at Penn National Race Center, and Parx Casino & Racing.

Unlike the common practice in some other states, Pennsylvanian land-based casinos are standalone venues without hotels. Combined slots, video poker games, video keno machines, and sportsbooks are among the common services.

Quite a few of these land-based venues have an online presence with sizeable gambling lobbies and content from some of the leading software developers. Pennsylvania is one of the very few states in the USA to legally offer games from Net Entertainment (unfortunately, this does not include their legendary live games).

According to the stats, onshore casino gaming activity was estimated at 515 million USD in gross wins in 2020 and is expected to grow to 900+ million by 2025. Following casino games in terms of popularity are poker games with gross wins reaching 35 million in 2020 and predicted to grow to 40 million by 2025.

Sports Betting in Pennsylvania

PASPA was overturned in 2018, and Pennsylvania was quick to hop in on the trend and to legalize sports betting and activities in June of 2018. By 2020, Pennsylvania reported its onshore venues to reach 240 million USD in gross wins for sports betting. The number is expected to grow to 360 million by 2025.

The racetracks are usually connected to casinos. Not many brands will offer it as an additional service.

Lotteries in Pennsylvania

Lotteries are regulated by the state. PSL is part of several major national games, including Power Ball and Mega Millions. Stats show that the average loss on lottery per resident is around 80 USD per year.