Pennsylvania’s House Health Committee is set to vote on a measure that would ban smoking at the state’s 17 casinos. Under House Bill 1657, known as the Protecting Workers from Secondhand Smoke Act, all kinds of smoking, including electronic cigarettes, would be banned from casinos, bars and private clubs in Pennsylvania.

The bill seeks to patch a loophole in the Pennsylvania Clean Indoor Air Act that exempts casinos, private clubs, bars and tobacco shops from the indoor smoking ban. Introduced in 2008, the original law allows casinos to designate up to half of their gaming area as a smoker’s area.

However, the original law doesn’t sit well with all casino workers as many claim that the exemption exposes them to secondhand smoke and endangers their health.

Under House Bill 1675, the smoking exemption for casinos, bars and clubs would be eliminated. However, tobacco shops would still be allowed to offer indoor smoking.

Frankel Is Optimistic about the Measure

The bill is promoted by Rep. Dan Frankel, chair of the House Health Committee. The committee will convene in Harrisburg today to vote on the bill but Frankel is fairly confident that the body will pass the measure.

Earlier this month, Frankel said that it is high time to create legislation that doesn’t jeopardize the health of club and casino workers, forcing them to “choose between their paycheck and their health.”

Fifteen years ago, this commonwealth took an enormous step forward in ensuring that our workers are not forced to breathe in toxic smoke — it’s time to finish the job.

Rep. Dan Frankel

Echoing the discussion in New Jersey, Pennsylvanian casinos have expressed their concerns about the measure, claiming that it can hurt their revenues. Despite the lack of concrete evidence, gambling properties remain convinced that smoking bans would alienate casino goers.

However, proponents of the ban in Pennsylvania have pointed out that Parx’s Bensalem casino prohibits smoking and still generates more revenue than its local competitors. In addition, the prohibition the Bensalem and Shippensburg casinos have adopted has significantly bolstered employee morale.

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The largest technical standards development organization focused on creating standards for the global gaming industry, the International Gaming Standards Association (IGSA), announced it forged a new committee that seeks to elevate the standards for cybersecurity. Confirmation about the new Cyber Resiliency Committee (CRC) came Thursday and it comes amid an increasing concern about a growing number of cybersecurity threats and issues.

IGSA confirmed that the new Committee is supported by experts within the gambling sector and recognizable companies, including AXES.ai, Light & Wonder, as well as Aristocrat Technologies. Ultimately, the CRC is expected to help develop standards for cybersecurity governance, cyber risk management, as well as a framework control standard for the gambling sector and operators within the sector.

The announcement about the new Committee comes after earlier this year, IGSA announced the development of a Responsible Gaming Committee (RGC) in an effort to elevate responsible gambling standards and help reduce problem gambling. At the time of the announcement, IGSA revealed that the RGC will help its members better tackle problem gambling and strengthen their responsible gaming efforts.

The New Initiative Brings Excitement

Peter DeRaedt, IGSA’s president, spoke about the recently created CRC, revealing that it represents the efforts of the Association to develop a cyber standard that protects the gambling sector. He outlined that the new Committee is developed with the efforts of Gold and Platinum IGSA members.

Moreover, DeRaedt added: “This committee will solicit experts within our membership to create ready-to-use standards to improve cyber resilience.” Finally, he thanked IGSA’s chairman, Earle G. Hall, for accepting the role of interim chair of the CRC.

“IGSA is being called to lead a concerted effort to create cyber standards to protect our industry and that is exactly what we will do thanks to the incredible leadership within our Platinum and Gold members.“

Peter DeRaedt, president of IGSA

Hall, who also serves as the CEO of AXES.ai and chairman of IGSA, added that it is great to see members of the Association join forces to address a number of rising cybersecurity issues for the gambling sector. “Our members are clear that cybersecurity has to be a top priority for all gaming suppliers in our industry to protect operators and our industry at large,” he added. Finally, he thanked Light & Wonder and Aristocrat for their efforts in this initiative.

Earlier this year, IGSA announced the creation of its Ethical AI Committee. This was another effort by the Association to improve the gambling sector as a whole in addition to other important initiatives.

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The KSA Decided to Split the Role Between Two Chairpersons

The reason why Kansspelautoriteit decided to split the chairperson position between two people was due to the increase recorded in the number of sanction decisions. As a consequence, KSA also recorded a larger number of objection procedures.

Chairman René Jansen expressed content for having found “two worthy successors for J.M.E. Feije,” while also acknowledging her efforts and thanking her for them. Jansen also added that the administrative body founded in 2012 by the industry with the help of gambling levies considered itself “very fortunate” to be joined by the two knowledgeable and well-experienced chairpersons who will tackle their objection procedures in the future.

Both Chairpersons to Serve for Three Years

The body that is governed by a board of directors also announced that Koppe and van Oers will each be serving a three-year term. Koppe is currently a lecturer in constitutional and administrative law at The Hague University of Applied Sciences, a position she has occupied since August 2016. Van Oers is the Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets’ (ACM) director of legal affairs, a position she has occupied for more than a decade. 

For close to seven years between 1990 and 1997, Van Oers was also director of the legal department and team manager for The Netherlands’ Competition Authority which merged into ACM on April 1, 2013. Van Oers was also a lawyer for De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek. 

KSA’s Strategy for 2020-2024

While preserving an objective view of gambling, the authority considers it is essential for the activity to be safe and fair. Their main purpose is to nurture a world “where gambling services are reliable, operators are transparent and players are protected.”

As a declared mission, the KSA wishes to make sure that consumers can play safely. To do this, they will continue to protect consumers, prevent gambling addiction, and fight off illegal and criminal practices. 

One of their latest actions targeted two lottery operators, Postcode Loterij and VriendenLoterij, for providing online games that they were not legally allowed to offer according to their current lottery license statuses. The two operators are now facing fines of up €1 million ($1.07 million) provided they do not put a stop to their activities. 

Before that, the KSA issued another fine worth €45,000 ($48,000) to Merkur Casino for enabling a player that had used the self-exclusion options to enter the premises in Almere.

In March, the authority imposed a €4,4 million ($4.7 million) financial penalty against Gammix Limited for providing services to customers in the Netherlands without a license.

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Kentucky may soon legalize sports betting as a new bill continues to gain traction. House Bill 511 seeks to allow wagering on sports at the state’s horse racing tracks, bringing a new gambling vertical to the state. In addition, racing tracks would be able to partner with up to three online operators, allowing local customers to play online.

Now, the Bill, which passed a House vote on Monday, also passed through a state Senate committee. Despite this, many challenges remain.

Kentucky Closer to Sports Betting than Ever

House Bill 511 is but the latest effort to bring sports flutters to the Bluegrass State. Kentucky has been trying to legalize punts since 2018 when the PASPA was repealed. However, previous efforts have ended in failure.

Despite the past misfirings, there is now a real chance for Kentucky to welcome sports betting. No bill has previously been able to pass the Senate Licensing and Occupations Committee. Not only that but the committee voted resoundingly in favor of HB 511, with 9 votes in favor of the measure against one that opposed it.

Many believe that Governor Andy Beshear is in favor of sports betting and would sign the bill into law, meaning that the only challenge to Kentucky becoming the 37th state to allow sports betting is the Senate. Beshear’s campaign from four years ago prominently highlighted his pro-gambling stance.

Rep. Meredith Will Seek Supporters

While HB 511 has a real chance of passing, it is still too early to rejoice as the Senate will pose the greatest threat to the measure yet. Under local laws, the bill must receive at least three-fifths of the Senate votes to pass. In addition, passing HB 511 would be a race against time since there are but four days remaining in this year’s legislative session.

Luckily, a planned recess period in the legislative session may work in favor of the bill as it would provide its supporters with enough time to convince other senators to vote in favor of the bill. State Rep. Michael Meredith admitted that the pro-gambling camp is still a few votes short of passing the bill.

The legislative session will continue on March 29-30 when the fate of sports betting in Kentucky will be conclusively decided, at least for now.

Earlier this month, a Kentucky House committee also cleared HB 594 which imposes a ban on “gray” video game machines with cash payouts.

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In February, Rep. Ken Luttrell, R-Ponca City filed House Bill 1027, bringing sports aficionados and gamblers from Oklahoma one step closer to finally seeing sports betting legalized in the Sooner State.

After the legislation went through a smooth review from a friendly committee that was chaired by Luttrell, KOKO-TV announces that the House Committee on Appropriations and Budget has decided to pass the bill on Thursday.

27 “Yes” Votes, Four “No” Votes

Luttrell’s second trial to introduce sports betting to Oklahoma gathered 27 “yes” votes and it was only opposed by four “no” votes in the Appropriations and Budget Committee.

According to its initiator, the main purpose of the bill is to allow additional changes that might be necessary during the lawmaking procedure. In its current form, the legislation would enable Native American tribes to make their way into new sports betting compacts that legalize both in-person and mobile sports betting.

Tribes eager to participate would be allowed to ink partnerships with larger online sports betting sites or create their own gambling sites and platforms and sportsbooks. They would also be allowed to set limits to mobile betting and only allow the vertical on tribal land.

Luttrell explained that the new bill is the result of his lengthy work and collaboration with the tribes and gaming partners in his own districts as well as several other districts in Oklahoma.

While the bill was successfully passed out of committee at the start of March, this still does not offer any guarantee on the fact that it would also reach the House. Nonetheless, Luttrell has expressed his optimism that this would occur.

In the event that the bill would reach the House floor, it would still require clearance from the House and Senate prior to being signed into effect by Gov. Kevin Stitt.

The Power of Example

Further strengthening his argument that Oklahoma is currently missing out on a lot of money, Luttrell explained that after sports betting became legal in nearby Arkansas, the three casinos there generated a massive total bid of $500 million, with $11 million reaching the state’s treasury.

The bill’s initiator also argued that sports betting was already legal in New Mexico, Colorado, and Kansas, while adding that the purpose of the bill was not to expand gambling or gaming, but to offer “another option for those tribes that would like to provide this to their customers.”

If it would come into effect, the legislation would follow the same distribution of the fees that currently come to the state from other compacts.

Accordingly, 80% of the money would go to education while a separate provision would be used to combat problem gaming and provide counseling to problem problems and persons at risk.

While the legislation still has a long time to go before it turns into a palpable reality, the fact that it currently enjoys the support of both the tribes and the Governor can be taken as a good omen.

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