Pennsylvania Bill Would Ban Sweepstakes Casinos, Regulate Skill Games
A Pennsylvania lawmaker has introduced legislation that would ban sweepstakes casinos while creating a new regulatory and tax framework for skill game machines across the state.
House Bill 2801, sponsored by Representative Russ Diamond, a Republican representing the 102nd District, was referred to the House Gaming Oversight Committee on September 24, 2026.
What HB 2801 Would Change
House Bill 2801 amends Titles 4 and 53 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes and touches nearly every corner of the state's gaming law, including fantasy contests, slot machine licensing, table games, interactive gaming, sports wagering, and video gaming terminals.
Among its provisions is a new section "providing for sweepstakes games prohibited," language that would bar sweepstakes casino platforms from operating in Pennsylvania.
The bill's co-sponsors are Representatives Jacob Banta, Brad Roae, Dan Moul, and Jeanne McNeill, according to the bill record on the Pennsylvania General Assembly's website.
Sponsor's Rationale And Tax Framework
Diamond outlined his rationale in a co-sponsorship memo circulated to House members on September 1, 2026. He wrote that Pennsylvania's gaming law "was originally written for a much different era" and that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's recent ruling that unregulated skill games are slot machines made it "time to make some necessary and much-needed changes."
Under the memo's outline, the legislation would allow up to five skill-game or video-gaming terminal machines at clubs, liquor-licensed restaurants and bars, and qualified truck stops, with a 20% tax on gross terminal revenue.
The bill would also reduce the tax rate on casino slot machines and set a matching 49.9% tax rate for online casino games, and restructure how gaming tax revenue is distributed across the Race Horse Development Trust Fund, the Compulsive and Problem Gambling Treatment Fund, the Property Tax Relief Fund, and the General Fund.
Diamond's memo frames HB 2801 as the first half of a two-bill package. A companion measure, House Bill 2802, would create a direct annual property tax dividend payment for qualified homeowners funded by gaming revenue.
The Skill Games Ruling
The legislation follows a June ruling from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court that found unregulated skill game machines meet the state's legal definition of slot machines, putting the devices under the oversight of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board unless lawmakers act.
Legislators are up against the clock: Per the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania's ruling, machines are subject to criminal prosecution by the state police and immediate seizure, beginning October 14, 2026.
HB 2801 is one of several bills introduced in response, and it remains subject to committee review and further amendment before it could reach a floor vote.
Where The Bill Stands Now
House Bill 2801 had not advanced beyond the Gaming Oversight Committee as of its last recorded action on the General Assembly's website. No committee vote or hearing date had been scheduled.
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