PGCB-licensed Pennsylvania online casinos: how to verify before you deposit

What Act 42 of 2017 actually authorised

Pennsylvania's online casino market exists because of Act 42 of 2017 (also called the Gaming Expansion Act), signed into law by Governor Tom Wolf in October 2017. Act 42 amended the existing Pennsylvania Race Horse Development and Gaming Act (originally passed in 2004) to authorise interactive gaming — online slots, online table games, and online poker — alongside online sports wagering and an online state lottery. It gave each of Pennsylvania's 13 licensed land-based casinos (Category 1, 2, and 3 Slot Machine Licensees and Qualified Gaming Entities) the ability to apply to the PGCB for an Interactive Gaming Certificate.

Despite Act 42 passing in 2017, Pennsylvania's first online casino did not go live until July 2019 — the PGCB spent the intervening period building the licensing, technical-standards, and testing-lab framework operators are still required to meet today. Online sports wagering launched slightly earlier, in November 2018.

How the PGCB's certificate + operator structure works

Pennsylvania's licensing structure is two-layered, and understanding it is the key to verifying any operator correctly. First, the PGCB issues an Interactive Gaming Certificate to a licensed land-based casino (the "Interactive Gaming Certificateholder") — for example, Valley Forge Casino Resort or Rivers Casino Philadelphia. Second, that certificateholder can itself run the online product, or it can authorise a separate "Interactive Gaming Operator" brand to run interactive gaming on its behalf under that certificate.

This is why the same consumer brand can appear tied to different land-based casinos in different states, and why some Pennsylvania casinos host multiple online brands under one certificate — Rivers Casino Philadelphia's certificate, for instance, authorises both PlaySugarHouse and BetRivers (both operated by Rush Street Interactive), while Valley Forge Casino Resort's certificate authorises both FanDuel Casino and Stardust Casino (run by two different operators). The PGCB publishes the full certificateholder-to-operator mapping, including the exact authorised website URL and the commencement date of operations for each, in its official interactive gaming documentation.

What a PGCB certificate/licence means for players in practice

A PGCB interactive gaming certificate is not just a formality. Licensed operators must run their real-money game software — including every slot's Random Number Generator — through certification by a PGCB-approved independent testing laboratory. Player funds must be held under PGCB-approved internal controls. Licensed operators are required to offer responsible-gambling tools including deposit limits and access to Pennsylvania's PGCB Self-Exclusion Program (covering separate Casino, iGaming, VGT-establishment and fantasy-contest exclusion tracks). Offshore, unlicensed sites offer none of these statutory protections, and Pennsylvania residents have no recourse with the PGCB if something goes wrong at an unlicensed site.

Step-by-step: how to verify a Pennsylvania online casino before you deposit

Follow these steps before creating an account or depositing at any Pennsylvania online casino:

• Go to the PGCB's own interactive gaming operators page at gamingcontrolboard.pa.gov/interactive-gaming-operators, or the Board's official certificateholder/authorised-websites document, and confirm the exact brand name and URL you intend to use appears there.
• Match the operator's website domain exactly. Several brands run under near-identical names across states or historically (e.g. a rebranded former product) — the PGCB's authorised URL is the only reliable confirmation for the Pennsylvania-specific instance of that brand.
• Confirm you are 21+ and physically located in Pennsylvania — every PGCB-licensed operator will independently confirm this via geolocation before allowing real-money play, regardless of your billing address.
• Do not rely on a logo, badge, or on-page claim of licensing alone — these can be copied by unlicensed sites. The PGCB's own published list is the only authoritative source.
• If in doubt, contact the PGCB's Bureau of Licensing directly at (717) 346-8300 (Option 2) to confirm an operator's current status.

Sources & further reading

• Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board — official site
• Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board — Interactive Gaming Operators
• PGCB — Licensed Interactive Gaming Certificateholders and Authorized Interactive Gaming websites (updated 5/22/2025)
• Act No. 42 of 2017 — Pennsylvania General Assembly
• PGCB Self-Exclusion — enrolment and program information