Online casino, sports betting and fantasy contests are all legal here, all under one regulator. Pennsylvania also taxes online slot revenue at 54%, the steepest rate in the country, which shapes what you actually see in the lobby.
Act 42 of 2017, the Gaming Expansion Act, signed by Governor Tom Wolf in October 2017, authorizing online casino, online sports betting and fantasy contests in a single bill. Online sports betting launched May 2019; online casino July 2019. Online casino runs under an interactive gaming certificate held by a land-based casino licensee, issued separately for slots, table games and poker, with 39 certificates available in total. Fantasy contests run under a separate fantasy contest license with a minimum age of 18 under Title 4, Chapter 3. Online slot revenue is taxed at 54%, the highest rate in the United States. No sweepstakes statute. In Re: Three Pennsylvania Skill Amusement Devices, decided by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on 15 June 2026, held that skill game devices are slot machines; the 120-day stay expires 13 October 2026.
Three of four gambling verticals are legal in Pennsylvania. Online casino, sports betting, and daily fantasy sports are all regulated by the state. Is gambling legal in Pennsylvania across the board, though? Not quite. Prediction markets are federally regulated. They sit outside state law entirely. Here's a number most snippets won't give you: Pennsylvania taxes online slot revenue at 54%. What's more, that's the steepest rate in the US. It's also why some national brands run a leaner slots library here than next door.
When did PA legalize online casino? As a matter of fact, Governor Tom Wolf signed Act 42 in October 2017. That one bill covered online casino, sports betting, and daily fantasy sports together.
In fact, the actual launch took much longer. Casino sites didn't go live until July 2019, nearly 2 years after the law passed.
Sports betting beat casino to market by a wide margin. We found that mobile and online wagering went statewide on May 31, 2019.
Additionally, online sportsbooks like FanDuel and DraftKings rolled out that spring and summer. That's roughly 2 months ahead of online casino, which didn't launch until July. Regulators clearly prioritized getting sports betting live first.
Paid daily fantasy got swept into that same 2017 bill, no extra fight or separate vote.
Pennsylvania just folded it in alongside casino and sports betting and moved on. What if you compare that to plenty of other states, where lawmakers spent years arguing over whether DFS even counts as gambling? Well, Pennsylvania skipped all of that.
The CFTC handles prediction markets at the federal level. It treats them as event-contract exchanges, not gambling.
However, you should know that Pennsylvania law doesn't cover them. There's no state license for this category at all.
PA gambling age is something many are wondering about! We noticed a number of questions across social media.
So, speaking of the Pennsylvania gambling age, the minimum is 21 across every vertical. There are no exceptions anywhere.
Is gambling legal in Pennsylvania? Notably, Pennsylvania gambling laws all run through one door: the PGCB.
Some other states split oversight across 2 or 3 agencies, which gets confusing fast. Here, you only need to know one name. Let’s take a look below.
Pennsylvania keeps regulation simple. One body, the PGCB, issues every interactive gaming certificate.
It also maintains the public licensee list and handles complaints directly.
The PGCB does something most regulators skip.
Namely, it publishes monthly revenue by operator and by vertical. It also publishes payout percentages by property. All in all, you can always check any figure yourself.
For responsible gaming guidelines and professional help, you can call 1-800-GAMBLER. Pennsylvania also runs self-exclusion directly through the PGCB. It's not left up to individual operators.
Regulator information is being verified.
There are 24 licensed online casinos in Pennsylvania. DraftKings, BetRivers, and FanDuel are currently the top choices. Pennsylvania is unique because you can find official payout percentages in…
Legal And Live Since July 2019. · 21+
Legal And Live Since May 2019 · 21+
Guide coming soonLegal And Licensed By The PGCB · 18+
Guide coming soonFederally Regulated By The CFTC · 18+
Guide coming soonEvery PA online casino runs under an interactive gaming certificate. That certificate belongs to a land-based Pennsylvania casino licensee. Slots, table games, and poker each need their own separate certificate. Around 24 branded sites operate this way. So the brand you see and the certificate holder behind it are often different companies.
Sports betting follows the same model. Every sportsbook sits under a licensed casino property. And interestingly, none is run independently.
Daily fantasy contests run on that same licensing setup. Prediction markets don't get a Pennsylvania page at all. Nobody in Pennsylvania regulates this, since it isn't part of the state's gambling system. Prediction markets are not part of the system, as they're federally regulated by the CFTC. Check the prediction markets tracker to see the live operators in the state of Pennsylvania.
Winning is the fun part. Figuring out what you owe afterward is where things get less exciting. Let’s see what happens with taxes here.
Pennsylvania keeps this subject simple too. A flat 3.07% personal income tax applies to your winnings. That's the same rate that applies to a paycheck. A few municipalities, Philadelphia included, add their own local tax on top.
Keep 2 numbers separate in your head. The 54% figure belongs to operators. It taxes their slot revenue, not your winnings. Mixing those 2 up is a common mistake on other sites. Also worth knowing: what gets withheld at payout isn't always your final tax bill. Please know that none of this is tax advice, just how the math works out.
General information only; not tax advice.
No Pennsylvania law names sweepstakes casinos outright. None of those platforms hold a real gaming certificate either. But don't mistake that for quiet. In April 2025, the PGCB sent cease-and-desist letters to 18 sweepstakes operators. All 18 complied. The board didn't stop there. It's been pushing lawmakers for real enforcement power. HB 721 addresses skill games and sweepstakes platforms directly. That bill is active in the legislature right now.
Something else is very much moving, yet not sweepstakes. Pennsylvania's Supreme Court ruled in June 2026 that skill game machines count as unlicensed slot machines. Lawmakers have until October 13, 2026, to fix it. As of this writing, they haven't. Different bills propose wildly different tax rates, from 20% up to the governor's preferred 52%. If nothing passes in time, many of the machines in bars and stores statewide could get pulled.
Yes. Act 42 of 2017 covered online casino, sports betting, and daily fantasy sports in one law. Sports betting launched in May 2019 and online casino followed that July. Prediction markets fall under federal CFTC oversight instead, so no Pennsylvania license exists for that category.
You must be 21 for online casino games and sports betting. Paid fantasy contests are the exception at 18, set by Act 42 itself, as are the Pennsylvania Lottery and horse racing. Geolocation confirms you're inside state lines before any bet gets accepted.
About 24 branded casino sites are live. Each one ties back to an interactive gaming certificate held by a land-based casino licensee, and slots, table games and poker each need their own separate certificate. The board may issue 39 certificates in total.
One agency: the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. It issues interactive gaming certificates and fantasy contest licenses, keeps the licensee list current, and takes complaints directly. It also publishes monthly revenue by operator and payout percentages by property. Call 1-800-GAMBLER for help.
Yes, at a flat 3.07%. That's the same rate as any other income. It's separate from the 54% operator tax on slot revenue. This is general information, not tax advice. If you have gambling winnings to report, consult a professional or the PGCB.