Pennsylvania Adds Self-Exclusion Options to Online Gambling
The gaming industry has always been vigilant in its efforts to promote responsible gambling. Whether it is a land-based gambling venue or an online casino site, problem gambling is a serious issue. Fortunately, everyone involved in the gaming industry continues to step up their efforts to combat gambling addiction.
Indeed, it appears Pennsylvania’s new effort to employ self-exclusion tools for its igaming offerings. Initiated by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB), a self-exclusion program is now available to online patrons. It comes in the form of a self-help tool that voluntarily excludes those patrons from access to online gaming sites.
An official statement from the PGCB stated that this program has “assisted thousands of persons by allowing them to voluntarily ban themselves from gaming in Pennsylvania casinos.”
As part of the specifications surrounding this program, bans can last from one year, five years or a lifetime. This includes all forms of online gambling activities. Further information on all the program’s specifics can be found on the PGCB website.
The state’s regulator of gaming within the Commonwealth added the following statement:
“All Commonwealth online gaming sites must refuse wagers and deny gaming privileges to all persons on the igaming self-exclusion list. As well as refuse any player club membership, complementary goods and services and other similar privileges. And, ensure that persons on the igaming self-exclusion list do not receive solicitations, targeted mailings, telemarketing promotions, player club materials or other promotional materials relating to igaming activities.”
The board also made a point of adding:
“It is important to note that the PGCB’s igaming self-exclusion program is separate from the existing casino self-exclusion program.
In other state gaming news included in this post, revenue figures for Pennsylvania’s gambling activities were released.
The Keystone state’s sportsbooks took in $36.8 million is sports bets during the month of April. The land-based books are located in most of the state’s casino operations. This includes casinos associated with racetracks in certain parts of the state.
Leading the way as the only sportsbook in the Pittsburgh market was Rivers Casino. They posted $8.2 million in sports bets in April. That figure was a decrease from the $11.9 million bet on sports at that casino property in March. The generated revenue in April was $871,753 as opposed to $1.3 million the previous month.
Another high-volume location for sports betting was SugarHouse Casino. This venue posted a handle of $7.9 million in April with $869,456 in revenue. This compared to $9.2 million and $1.2 million in March. Parx Casino in Philadelphia reported a $6.9 handle in April verse $7.96 in March. The respective revenue figures for each month at this location were $907,298 (April) and $984,339 (March).
Two casino locations in the state with sportsbooks reported an increase in April from the previous month. Valley Forge Casino Resort’s FanDuel jumped to $3.1 million in betting volume from $2 million in March. Valley Forge Race and Sportsbook posted a handle of $1.5 million in April; up from $706,089 the previous month.
