Pennsylvania is the biggest online casino market in the country by revenue, and it is fully regulated: online casinos have been legal since Act 42 of 2017, with around 20 licensed apps tied to the state's land-based casinos. Our advice is simple: play licensed. If you are set on offshore anyway, 12 of the 13 offshore casinos we track will accept you, and we rank them below with the trade-offs in the open.
Facts checked against Pennsylvania law and casino terms: 23 July 2026
The licensed online casinos in Pennsylvania
Every app in this table holds a PGCB license through one of Pennsylvania’s land-based casinos, which is what puts it under a state regulator instead of a Curacao mailbox. We earn nothing from this list; it is here because it is the correct starting point for a Pennsylvania player, taken straight from the Board’s operator registry.
Licensed casino apps
Land-based partner
Hollywood Casino · BetMGM Casino · DraftKings Casino · Fanatics Casino · Golden Nugget Casino
Hollywood Casino at Penn National (PENN Entertainment)
What the license buys you: the PGCB investigates player complaints and can order an operator to pay, every game is independently tested for fairness, deposits are held in segregated accounts, and Pennsylvania’s self-exclusion register works across every licensed app at once. If a licensed casino wrongs you, your complaint goes to a state agency with real leverage. That is the standard everything below should be measured against.
Why some players still go offshore, and what it costs
Offshore casinos keep a few genuine draws even in a fully regulated state: crypto in and out, higher table limits, and no shared tracking of your play across apps. The trade is that you leave every PGCB protection at the door. If a payout stalls, your only leverage is the operator’s reputation and our complaints desk, not a regulator that can force the money out.
Here is the honest version, though: the offshore market is not hard to get into from Pennsylvania. Of the 13 offshore casinos we track, 12 accept Pennsylvania players; only Bovada turns the state away. So the question is not whether you can play offshore, it is why you would swap a PGCB license for a Curacao one when you have 20 regulated apps to pick from. The ranking below is for readers who have weighed that and still want the offshore route, with the trade-offs stated plainly and the date we last read each casino’s terms on the card.
Gambling law in Pennsylvania: what is actually legal
Almost everything, and regulated at that. The one category still in limbo is sweepstakes casinos, which the Board treats as unlicensed gambling.
Vertical
Status
The facts
Online casinos
Legal
Legal under Act 42 of 2017; the first apps went live in July 2019. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board licenses around 20 casino apps, each tied to a land-based casino, and by revenue this is now the largest regulated online casino market in the country. 21+.
Land-based casinos
Legal
Sixteen licensed casinos statewide; slot machines were legalized by Act 71 of 2004 and table games followed in 2010.
Sports betting
Legal
Legalized in the same Act 42 of 2017; retail books opened in November 2018 and online betting in May 2019.
Lottery
Legal
Pennsylvania Lottery since 1972, with online games and an app since 2018.
Daily fantasy sports
Legal
Regulated as fantasy contests under Act 42 of 2017.
Sweepstakes casinos
Effectively banned
No statute bans the dual-currency sweeps model yet, but the PGCB treats these sites as unlicensed gambling and sent cease-and-desist letters to a wave of sweepstakes operators in 2025.
Charitable bingo & raffles
Legal
Licensed small games of chance, bingo and raffles for clubs and nonprofits under the Local Option Small Games of Chance Act.
Will you get in trouble for playing online from Pennsylvania?
Playing at a PGCB-licensed app is fully legal at 21+. No Pennsylvania statute targets an individual player for using an offshore site, and no player prosecutions are documented. Unlicensed operators are the target: running online gambling without a PGCB license is the offense the state pursues, alongside the 2025 cease-and-desist campaign against sweepstakes sites. Enforcement lands on operators, not players. Federal law points the same way: the UIGEA targets gambling businesses and payment processors, not the person placing the bet. The real cost of going offshore is losing every PGCB protection.
Pennsylvania built its gambling market in deliberate stages, each one adding a layer.
2004
Act 71 legalizes slot machines at racetracks and standalone casinos. The first slots parlors open in 2006.
2010
Table games are added to the casino floors, turning slots halls into full casinos.
2017
Act 42 legalizes online casinos, online poker and sports betting in one sweeping expansion, signed 30 October.
2019
The first online casinos go live in July. Sports betting had opened at retail the previous November and online that May.
2025
Pennsylvania overtakes New Jersey as the largest online casino market by revenue, and the PGCB sends cease-and-desist letters to a wave of sweepstakes operators.
Taxes on winnings
Licensed apps make this part simple: they issue W-2G paperwork on qualifying wins and report to the IRS, so there is no question about whether the income exists. All gambling winnings are taxable federally (IRS Topic 419) and Pennsylvania taxes them at its flat 3.07% rate, reported on PA-40 Schedule T (PA Department of Revenue). Pennsylvania lets you deduct the cost of your wagers against winnings, but you cannot carry a net gambling loss.
One thing worth knowing federally: from the 2026 tax year only 90% of gambling losses are deductible against winnings under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Win $10,000 and lose $10,000 and you still owe federal tax on $1,000. Offshore winnings arrive with no paperwork at all, which makes your own session records the only trail; the tax is owed either way.
Pennsylvania online casino FAQ
Is online gambling legal in Pennsylvania?
Yes, fully. Online casinos have been legal and PGCB-regulated since Act 42 of 2017, with the first apps live in July 2019, and online sports betting since 2019. You must be 21 or older and physically in Pennsylvania while playing; the apps check both.
Which online casinos are licensed in Pennsylvania?
Around 20 casino apps, each tied to one of the state’s land-based casinos such as Hollywood, Parx, Harrah’s Philadelphia or Wind Creek. The full list, grouped by land-based partner, is in the table above, straight from the PGCB registry.
Does Pennsylvania’s high casino tax cost me anything as a player?
No. Pennsylvania is famous for taxing online slot revenue at 54%, the steepest rate in the country, but that tax falls on the operators, not on you. As a player you owe the flat 3.07% state tax on your winnings, the same as any other Pennsylvania income.
Is it illegal to play at an offshore casino from Pennsylvania?
No Pennsylvania law targets the player, and no player prosecutions are documented; enforcement lands on unlicensed operators. The catch is different: most offshore casinos will accept you, but the ones that do offer none of the protections a PGCB-licensed app must provide.
What is the minimum gambling age?
21 for every licensed product: online casinos, sportsbooks and casino floors. Some offshore sites claim 18, but a Pennsylvania player under 21 is outside the legal market entirely.
Nearby states
Rules change at every border. If you travel, the picture one state over:
