Pennsylvania lawmakers will hold a highly anticipated hearing on online casinos next week. Online poker efforts were heating up earlier this year before the legislation was placed on hold until the fall.

The Tuesday hearing can be a “review of states which currently have fantasy sports and/or I-gaming,” consistent with the home Gaming Oversight Committee’s website.

Pennsylvania’s casino gambling market is worth $3 billion annually, with about $60 million from peer-to-peer poker. Ten of the Keystone State’s 12 casinos have poker rooms. Pennsylvania has roughly 250 poker tables.

A matured Keystone State online gambling market was estimated at $300 million a year, which might add about 10 percent to the state’s already-existing casino gambling market. The net casinos could be taxed at a 16-percent rate.

Lawmakers this summer approved an immense spending bill that features a plan for $100 million from online gambling, so online casinos are greatly still in play because the 2016 legislative session winds down.

The House passed a web based casino bill in June, however the Senate hasn’t taken it up yet. Lawmakers there'll need to approve online gambling after which the proposal can be sent to the governor.

According to Pennsylvania Rep. John Payne, sponsor of the net gambling bill, there were about 50 meetings and hearings for online gaming over just the past year and a half.

If it legalizes online gaming, Pennsylvania would become just the fourth state within the country to take action. The legislation wouldn't prohibit the state from sharing liquidity with another state. Only Nevada and Delaware have partnered for online poker so far.

The motivation behind online casinos isn't just tax revenue but to maintain the state’s gaming industry competitive in a region with greater than 40 casinos and racinos, and more within the pipeline from states like Ny and Massachusetts.

New Jersey, which has greater than 90 percent of the regulated online casino gambling market in America, could approve two new casinos for the northern a part of the state.

Read More... [Source: CardPlayer Poker News]