Pennsylvania has already made quite the progress with its online offerings as the past few weeks have witnessed the official start of the application process for Interactive Gaming Certificates which could be acquired from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. Now already operating casinos will be able to grab a license which will give them the permission to provide online poker, table games, as well as slots to their customers.
These applications which casino operators now have the chance to file in are officially called petitions. There are also additional factors which make these licenses different than a regular online gambling license acquisition. Each business interested in acquiring such permit for operating the said gambling offerings has to send in a legal petition to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. This might seem like a long and tedious process but these are the established rules which ensure that the application process is being held in the proper manner.
All brick-and-mortar casino developers operating in the state have the right to apply for one of the said special licenses worth $10 million. Since this is the first phase of the application process, the companies which have the permission to participate ought to be licensed particularly by the state of Pennsylvania and there are already many operators willing to lay their hands on one of the licenses. The deadline for filing in applications is set to 15th July and each of the 12 casinos has enough time to pursue its own permit to provide online poker, table games, and slots.
Potential Threats to the Future Field
Following the day of the official deadline the casino operators which could not make it on time will have a second chance to apply for one of the a-la-carte licenses which will cost them a total of $4 million. This second phase is going to last for the following 30 days. Regardless of the period in which casino operators make their applications, all of them will be obliged to provide a full list with the titles they intend on having on offer to their customers.
Each of the interactive games which would be featured among the offerings as well as the proper category which the said game is going to be placed in. Updates of the provided information should also be done in a timely manner if there are changes being done. According to the additional requirements for the petition filing in, each of the operators should take into account the policy for diversity of the employees since the representation of various groups is crucial for the development of the new sector.
What should also be provided as an information by the developer is an estimation which shows how their operation is expected to improve the financial situation of the Commonwealth. However, the beginning of this week also saw a new law being crafted which has the potential to bring a mandatory 54-percent tax on online slot revenue. This could prove to be an unbearably large portion of the revenue to be paid to the authorities for some of the casino operators willing to offer online slots.
Another feature of the new law was the ban on online gambling taking place at brick-and-mortar facilities, which could seriously cripple the future field. The reasoning behind this is that the authority is aiming to protect the revenues generated by land-based venues, but this could potentially harm the budding field.
