{"id":18746,"date":"2014-02-24T17:30:45","date_gmt":"2014-02-24T17:30:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=18746"},"modified":"2014-02-23T17:55:21","modified_gmt":"2014-02-23T17:55:21","slug":"few-pennsylvania-bars-taking-advantage-of-new-tavern-gambling-laws","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/few-pennsylvania-bars-taking-advantage-of-new-tavern-gambling-laws\/","title":{"rendered":"Few Pennsylvania Bars Taking Advantage of New Tavern Gambling Laws"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Pennsylvania
Pubs and taverns like this one in Ambler, Pennsylvania reportedly begged to be allowed to offer small games of chance, but few are now taking advantage of that legality (Image: americanpublichouse.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When the state of Pennsylvania decided it wanted to expand its gambling options, it considered many possibilities \u2013 including online gambling \u2013 but ultimately went with allowing bars to offer small games of chance. The state wanted it. The gambling industry wanted it. The bars even said they wanted it.<\/p>\n

So why is almost nobody taking advantage of it?<\/p>\n

Underwhelming Response<\/h2>\n

Of the approximately 16,000 eligible bars and taverns throughout the state of Pennsylvania, only six have applied to offer raffles, drawings and other small games in their establishments. That\u2019s six \u2013 not 6,000 – \u00a0which is probably closer to what state gambling officials had hoped for. After all, their goal was for the state to enjoy as much as tens of millions of dollars from barroom gambling to help balance the Pennsylvania budget.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis rollout\u2019s worse than Obamacare, all right?\u201d said state Senator Jake Corman<\/a>, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. \u201cMore people signed up for Obamacare than were signing up for this small games of chance \u2013 from an industry who begged for this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, supporters of the barroom gambling law might take that analogy a step further, and suggest that \u2013 as in the case of Obamacare \u2013 perhaps the number of applications will improve as time goes on. But there may be fundamental issues with this law that are far more difficult to overcome than even the most broken of websites.<\/p>\n

The taverns industry lays the blame with the process required in order to get a license to operate these games. While bars may want to offer raffles or other games, the lengthy background checks and the four-part application process that costs $2,000 to complete is turning many off, they say.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cA lot of my members feel that they did a background check to receive a liquor license to sell alcohol to the general public,\u201d said Amy Christie, director of the Pennsylvania Licensed Beverage Association. \u201cNow they need to go through this process to sell a couple tickets, which doesn\u2019t make sense to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

PGCB On the Defense<\/h2>\n

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board<\/a> has scrambled to defend their policy, however.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a license to do more than serve alcohol \u2013 this is to be involved in gambling,\u201d said Gaming Control Board (GCB) chairman William Ryan during a hearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee. \u201c[Gambling is] is a far more serious enterprise to be involved in, and I think that was the understanding for the people who put this procedure together.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Ryan said that the GCB would review the particulars of the process, he noted that the law itself deemed that some sort of background check was necessary to obtain a license. He also pointed out that the Liquor Control Board and Department of Revenue are also involved in various aspects of the application process.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a multi-jurisdictional problem here, and I\u2019m just asking all of you to see what we can do,\u201d Corman said. \u201cOr else our budget\u2019s going to be way out of whack, and that means less money for other things we want to accomplish around here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pennsylvania\u2019s gambling industry has been a monumental success since the first casino was opened there in 2006, overtaking Atlantic City as the region\u2019s largest gambling hub. However, revenues dropped slightly for the first time in 2013, due mainly to increased competition from yet more neighboring states.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When the state of Pennsylvania decided it wanted to expand its gambling options, it considered many possibilities \u2013 including online gambling \u2013 but ultimately went with allowing bars to offer small games of chance. The state wanted it. The gambling industry wanted it. The bars even said they wanted it. So why is almost nobody […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":18753,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,13],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFew Pennsylvania Bars Taking Advantage of New Tavern Gambling Laws<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"After passing legislation to allow Pennsylvania's bars to take advantage of new tavern gambling laws, very few are, it appears.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Few Pennsylvania Bars Taking Advantage of New Tavern Gambling Laws\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"After passing legislation to allow Pennsylvania's bars to take advantage of new tavern gambling laws, very few are, it appears.\" \/>\n<meta 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