In May 2019, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf signed the bill legalizing online casino and poker in the state. A few months later in November of that year, online casino and poker powerhouse PokerStars launched the first mobile app and online website offering legal poker and casino in the Keystone State.
With the first bill legalizing gambling in the state signed in Oct. 2017, Sports betting apps and websites, as well as mobile casino apps have been legal in Pennsylvania for a while now. Online poker has been the latest edition, where it is now legal for anyone in Pennsylvania that is within the legal age to log into their computer and play poker against other players in the state, or download and install the poker app on their mobile phone or tablet and play through the poker mobile client.
And so, some of the world’s leading online gambling operators teamed up with some of the top casinos in the country to offer in Pennsylvania the bets online poker sites and poker apps in the industry.

Pennsylvania Online Poker Rooms
And so, if you are in Pennsylvania and want to either start learning how to play the awesome game of poker, or if you are an experience player that wants to play poker and get back into the game, you have some great choices. PokerStars partnered with Mount Airy Casino, PartyPoker with Valley Forge Casino Resort and 888/WSOP with Caesars – all offering you state of the art online poker websites and poker mobile apps.
There is a great selection of tournaments offered by poker apps and websites in PA, as well as cash games, sit-and-go’s, offering different stakes and games. Although most games you will find in mobile poker apps in Pennsylvania are no-limit Texas Hold’em, there are also other variations of the game such as Pot Limit Omaha and Mixed games.
PA Poker Players Joining the Action
There are many poker players in Pennsylvania now joining the online poker fun. So when you log into a regulated online-poker website, or download one of the mobile poker apps, you will be playing against other players in Pennsylvania like yourself. This means, that there is a huge variety of tables you can join, games you can play, and the prize pools are bigger too!
There was a lot of excitement and high expectations by many for the much-needed revenues that online gambling will generate for the state, and the ability for people to play poker and casino online in a safe, legal and secure setting.
Prospects for the success of online poker apps and websites were bright, but even the biggest optimists could have never anticipated the surge of players installing and using poker apps in Pennsylvania.
Pandemic Effect on PA Online Poker
Obviously many wanted to see the online poker app scene in Pennsylvania grow, but nobody imaged, or wanted to see it happening the way it did.
Like in most other places, Pennsylvania residents are advised to stay and home and adhere to social distancing requirements, and many counties in the state are under strict home-closure orders. So many people in Pennsylvania are finding themselves stuck at home, and looking for ways to keep their minds occupied.
Add to that the fact that land-based casinos and poker rooms are closed, and people aren’t allowed to gather for a friendly game of poker at home, and this is why there’s a huge boom in Pennsylvanians that are playing poker online from their homes, either on their computer to through an online poker website, installing a mobile poker app on their mobile device, and in many cases using both.
PokerStars in Pennsylvania
PokerStars who launched last November its Pennsylvania online poker site and mobile app for example, saw peak-hour numbers in the range of 700 players, which was considered by the poker giant a promising start. The group even said it seems a stronger start than it had in neighbor-state New Jersey.
Consistently rising during holidays and weekends before the current closures came into effect, now PokerStars reported at the end of March over 3,000 online-poker players at peak time (3,390 and 3,373 players logged in concurrently, at 9.30 p.m. local time, for March 23 and 24 respectivly). And in the month of April, numbers are expected to continue increasing.
Eddie Motl, VP of Communications of PokerStars’ US arm FoxBet said: “We see fantastic results with new sign-ups growing steadily every week.”
Record Revenues Expected for March
Although consistent growth in player numbers in Pennsylvania that download and played in the poker app and website, Pokerstars’ revenues were not growing steadily, with the following revenues in PA reported (in millions):
- 2019:$1.965
- Dec 2019:$2.473
- Jan 2020:$2.157
- Feb 2020:$1.830
But sources in PokerStars report that revenues in March are expected to hit the $3 million mark, and in April grow further.
And what about Zoom poker games? Or all kind of other ways to innovate and bring some more joy into our lives during this difficult times?
“Our employees, all of whom are working from home to ensure their safety, keep coming up with fun and creative ways to push our business forward”, added Motl.