Pennsylvania doesn’t have any laws regarding social gambling. However, the court ruling was overturned on 4-2-2010.Ĭonsidering they overturned the initial ruling, I think it would be safe to assume that online poker is more illegal than not. It was initially ruled as a game of skill, therefore not an illegal activity. There was a court case in 2009-2010 where the judge was asked to define poker as a game of skill or chance. One interesting thing worth noting, though.
By default we’d assume that online poker would be illegal. Pennsylvania doesn’t have any laws regarding online gambling. So if you don’t mind bending the law (or waiting for laws to pass) it’s still possible to play poker in Pennsylvania. The consequences for running/participating in a home game are minor, too. And poker players can still find sites to play online. That said, there is currently a bill in progress that would legalize online poker and other casino games. So we don’t know where we stand legally, leaving us to assume that in a worse case scenario, it’s illegal. However, everything else, like online poker and social gaming, is more or less undefined. On one hand they allow live poker in licensed and regulated casinos. Pennsylvania is another one of those average states.
