If you’ve followed the news of the last few years, you surely heard that online gaming and sports betting are now legal in many states across the U.S, including Pennsylvania, and are growing by the day. The more exciting news for us Poker Players is that Online poker may also be part of this exciting mix very soon, at least according to some reports and rumors out there. When did this all start?
Back in 2017, Pennsylvania was the fourth state to regulate online poker. However, since then – PA has taken a very slow path towards launching an online poker platform. Some experts predict it will finally happen this year, but who knows.
What we do know, is that unfortunately, online Poker is still not a priority in the Keystone state. It looks like PA hasn’t learned from the mistakes of other states – as for launching their online poker industries, like New Jersey for example.
New Jersey’s revenues from online poker are slim when compared to its revenues from sports betting. In July 2019 NJ made $13.9 million in revenues from online sports betting. It made only $1.9 million from online poker. There are definitely things to improve and learn from.
On the bright side, we also learned that the Penn National Gaming association signed a 5-year deal with IGT (International Game Technology PLC), a multinational gambling company that produces slot machines and other popular gambling technologies. Similar platforms already provide online gaming and sports gambling, like NFL Betting in PA. According to the report, IGT will provide online gaming for Penn National Gaming, and this deal may also include online poker. IGT has already built and operates an online poker platform in Canada. These are good news for Pennsylvania.
Some more good news, or better say – rumors, surfaced in the last few weeks. Some online rumors say that PokerStars, the largest real money online poker site in the world (controls over two-thirds of the total online poker market!) – could go live in Pennsylvania any day now.
What Online Poker sites will be available in PA?
Once online poker platforms are finally launched in PA, there will probably be a few options for players to choose from. According to our info, these poker sites have already applied for licenses in PA: WSOP.com, PokerStars.com, and PartyPoker. Other companies like Rush Street Gaming, GAN, and IGT that we mentioned above – have already been approved for licenses. However – we still do not know what products they’ll be launching.
Well, it definitely looks like it’s not anymore about “if” online poker launches in PA, but rather “when”. It would be nice for PA citizens to finally be able to legally play online poker from the comfort of their homes, wouldn’t it?