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PA Lottery Court Case: First Victory Goes to PA Lottery



Pennsylvania Lottery one, Pennsylvania casinos zero. Pennsylvania casinos have been going after the state lottery for its online gaming offerings. Casinos in Pennsylvania say that the Pennsylvania Lottery offers online gaming options that are similar to that of slot machines. Last week the first battle in the war between the casinos and lottery went in favor of the lottery.Get more news about 彩票包网,you can vist loto98.com

Seven casinos in Pennsylvania are part of a group that is going after the state lottery and their PA iLottery offerings. These casinos, (Hollywood Casino, Harrah’s Philadelphia, Meadows Casino Racetrack, Mohegan Sun Pocono, Parx Casino, Stadium Casino, and Valley Forge Casino Resort) alleged that the lottery is breaking the law by providing games similar to their slot offerings in their casinos.

The court case started back in August of 2018, but the first ruling was made just this past week. After a couple of hearings back in June, an opinion was handed down this past Friday (July 12th) by Judge Renee Cohn Jubelirer. Judge Jubelirer denied the injunction request from the state’s casinos that were attempting to put a stop to the iLottery games in question. According to the judge’s 50-page ruling, the case will still proceed to trial. While the Pennsylvania Lottery won the first battle, this war is far from over.
Pennsylvania has some of the highest taxes and licensing fees in the state for online gaming operations. Casinos had to pay a staggering $10 million licensing fee in order to apply for an online gaming license that features online sports betting, poker, and casino games. On top of that, taxes for these casinos is 54 percent on slot gaming revenue. Pennsylvania casinos believe the market is already saturated enough (at least nine casinos expected to offer online gaming) that the addition of lottery gaming will make it even more difficult to turn the desired profits in a state with such high taxes.

In 2017, a gaming expansion law allowed Pennsylvania to operate online gambling from both the lottery and casinos. The Pennsylvania iLottery launched back in May of 2018. Since its inception, the lottery has gained over 100k player accounts and generated $375 million in revenue, according to testimony from the Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Lottery.

According to court documents, there are four distinct aspects of the iLottery games that the casinos have issues with. The autoplay, reveal all, and bonus game features, as well as the ability to adjust bets. On top of that, the lottery never had to pay the $10 million licensing fees that the casinos did and they are allowed to attract the attention of players 18-years old, casino players must be at least 21.