Via http://triblive.com/mobile/8658341-9...e-says-million on July 5

State Rep. John Payne, who is the sponsor of HB 649 and chair of the House Gaming Oversight Committee, suggests that online gambling regulation is still alive and well in PA budget talks:

I'm trying to pin down when Payne made the comments.

This could be an interesting week for PA. With the first round of budget theatrics out of the way, the opposing parties are likely now set to do some actual negotiating.

Online gambling is one of the few revenue-generating areas where the governor and the Senate/House aren't polarized.

It's far from a lock, but it's likely the closest PA has been so far and it's clearly the closest of any state considering regulation.

Two good Twitter follows for PA news:

https://twitter.com/ckrafcik
https://twitter.com/SaraEFriedman

He works hard trying to earn extra money for the state.

Here is his press release about online gaming: http://www.reppayne.com/NewsItemPrint.aspx?NewsID=23966

Besides this he's also working to make sure the Federal Government doesn't interfere with states offering internet gaming.

What would this actually mean? Worthwhile online poker or the jokes we have in NJ and NV?

I'll take the jokes in NJ and NV over no jokes at all.

string together a bunch a bad jokes and you may have 1 good joke

Sen Tomlinson must have had his pocket greased

Yea but will those jokes ever become one or just stay meaningless? Thats basically what I want to know.

i think pennsylvania will do well with online poker.. down the road a bit i can see pa & nj teaming up.. hopefully in 5 to 10 years when states prove online poker isnt something bad and we should be free to play the federal gov will pass a law to open up the entire country to online poker under the same player pool..

but im optimistic about pa..

There was some talk of sharing the player pool.

he doesn't take bribes he makes promises

"enable the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board to establish consumer protections, such as limits on time played, deposits and losses"

Have any states ever limited playing time? I wonder what types of limits they have in mind.

As a PA resident, it scares me a bit that this would also eliminate the unlicensed sites, one of which I love playing very much.

Not enough players to have any worthwhile mtts imo, but cash games should be good for awhile. NJ players, what is the current status of your $1/2+ cash games?

My guess is PA will have more games running than NJ however as the state has a slightly larger population. Hopefully after it gets up an running more states will join the pool.

They run. There aren't like tons of tables but you'll find no problem getting action during peak and later hours most of the time. I can't speak too much to the quality of the games, as I don't play a lot of cash, but they seem pretty soft from the games I have played.

Right now there are 4 full 6 handed 1/2 tables on WSOP, 2 at 2/4, along with two short handed. On ParyPoker there are 5 tables between 5-6 players at 1/2, 4 at 2/4 and 2 guys on a 6 handed 10/20 table. I have seen 3/6 and 5/10 run.

PLO games run at 1/2+ also, but with less games obviously. Seems like ther's always someone willing to play 2/4+ with PLO though (could be the same few guys/same guy waiting.)

thanks doesnt sound that bad if you play multiple sites

It's true that NJ and NV are a comically weak imitation of the boom years, but it was always foolish to assume that the very first iteration of regulated poker in the US would immediately resurrect the 2005-2011 landscape.

NV has had online poker for just over 2 years. NJ for just over one and a half. They're very much in the embryonic stages, though that may seem like eons to an Adderall-raised 20-something. Many of the posters who decry the pathetic state of games in NV and NJ are the same ones lambasting Stars in the Hastings thread, Weisner/Jen Larson/Lock in those clusters, iPoker in the bot-ring threads, etc. Well, you can't have it both ways. Understand that sad as though the games in NV and NJ may be at present, this is what regulation looks like. It's slow, it's tedious, it's frustrating. But it's also the only way forward. Cautious B&M regulators need to wade in from the shallow end, and that starts with what seem like overly-conservative restrictions (at first), and most of all: time.

If you want a silver lining, you can think of it this way: NV and NJ are building up a ton of valuable equity that may not manifest itself in the form of a dozen 10/20NL tables or SNGs of all stakes running 24/7, but rather in the form of regulatory experience and expertise that will accelerate the learning curve for other States manifold. Consider, for example, the very reasonable stance the NJDGE recently articulated re: the suitability of post-UIGEA affiliates. That'll serve as an important blueprint as other States consider the issue. Same goes for the efficacy of technologies like Geocomply, and the understanding of things like online bonusing and self-exclusion. It's been a real learning experience in NJ, with many dead ends and headaches, but they're slowly but surely building a roadmap that'll ultimately lead to more rapid adoption by other States, or perhaps even the Federal gov, if things ever move in that direction. Not picking on you in particular, Doggz, just using your comment as a jumping off point to make the case that there's a lot to be optimistic about in the handful of regulated US markets, even if game selection isn't one of them (yet.)

$5 million license fee seems stiff, with each vendor paying $1 million. So lets say a casino pays the $5 mil, then teams with a software vendor, they will pay another $1 million. I assume they expect to make a ton off the casino games to make that worth it, with Poker being a side show.

The penalties are quite stiff for playing on unlicensed sites. I'm guessing many of those sites will restrict Penn players, but if they don't, you are committing a felony of 2nd degree for 2nd offense, and subject to a fine of $150,000 to $300,000. I'm guessing people will think twice about VPNing to PS from Penn, not that anyone would do that. At least the fine is only $75,00 to $150,000 for 1st offense. Chicken feed for the high stakes guys.

The bill is not open to rest of world players, in fact it specifically limits to other US states with with legalized internet gaming. If they did, can you see international poker site lining up to pay a $5 million fee, plus the 14% taxes.
this is a fail for poker. Why not allow skins on the poker network that include international players?

We don't need nor want international players. Nice post monorail

This is a good post, but I feel like by the time we get there, online poker might as well be online chess - it won't even matter at that point.

I did not follow the developments in the US but I see threats pooping up with legalization more and more often in the US. How are the chances of online poker becoming legal in all the states in the US? And for the future, how are the chances of the US ever returning into a worldwide player pool as of now? Thanks

um, yes we do actually

PA is about 25% larger than NJ. It will be a limited market, but a viable market. And should NJ, NV and PA combine, then you're getting a lot closer to a sustainable market.

Parx is in his district, so he's heavily involved in the issue on teh Senate side.

The time played is probably more for casino than poker.

This bill passing would have a negative impact on the ability / willingness of unlicensed sites to offer online poker in PA.

While I appreciate that you enjoy them as a player, my position is that offshore sites have done more harm than good to US players on balance.

Legal online poker in all the states? The chance is basically 0.

US returning to a worldwide player pool? I'd say this is a slight favorite in the next 5 years, especially if Stars returns to US.

Unfortunately, getting all the states that have legalized regulated online poker together is going to be a tough task, and seems a long ways away. The NV/DE and NJ pools differ on a few key policies.

Being from DE, I'm hoping that the pooling with NV will have provided the blueprint that PA and other states can use to relatively rapidly join forces and generate multi-state player pools with games at least beginning to resemble those we used to love. Multi-state pooling has been done successfully once, and so could be done again, and much more quickly the second (and third and fourth) time.

No way. International players would be awful for US poker. US players are years behind right now for the most part, we want that to ourselves.

Yes

Legal in all states? You basically want it to follow in foot steps of powerball and mega millions. That took about 25 years to include 47 states

The main reason for the international players is to have huge tournament prize pools. Now as far as cash games they are also needed. If you like a variety of games you are not going to get it unless the United States pools a bunch of states.