William H Ryan Jnr, chairman of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, yesterday told a conference in West Philadelphia that he didn’t expect the state to regulate online gaming anytime soon, reports philly.com.
"I don't see any real groundswell right now for internet gaming," Ryan (pictured) said during a panel discussion on regulation with officials from New Jersey, Delaware, Massachusetts and Florida.
"What we are seeing is far more interest in legislation that would give the thousands of bars and social clubs the authority to have small games of chance," he said.
"The strength of the lobbying groups in those areas is probably greater [than for i-gaming]. All of them have very close contacts to the representatives in both the House and the Senate," he said. The Pennsylvania Senate Appropriations Committee passed legislation on Tuesday that would allow bars to conduct games of chance.
But Ryan did indicate that Pennsylvania is keeping an open mind with regard to online gambling. "It may be that they will wait and see long enough to see how New Jersey makes it work and how much revenue can be produced and to see if there is going to be any damage done by internet gaming to the bricks-and-mortar casino industry," he said.
