Content on this page may include affiliate links. If you click and sign up/place a wager, we may receive compensation at no cost to you.
Rise in Pennsylvania online casino popularity increases problem gambling hotline calls
Online casinos in Pennsylvania have enjoyed steady increases in annual revenue, but that trend also comes with a spike in calls to the problem gambling hotline and self-exclusion enlistments.
Since launching in 2019, the Pennsylvania online casino industry has established itself as arguably the largest and most successful iGaming market in the United States, recently posting just shy of $3 billion for 2025 and still showing signs of growth.
That said, there is a correlating upward trend that should not go unnoticed. According to the 2025 Pennsylvania Interactive Gaming Assessment, more than 50% of calls to the 1-800-GAMBLER hotline specifically mentioned online gambling as the most problematic form of gambling. That figure falls in line with more and more adults choosing to play PA online casinos and could be used as a way to help address problem gambling down the road.
Report: Over 50% of calls to 1-800-GAMBLER mention online gambling
Conducted by researchers at Penn State University's Social Science Research Institute, and contracted by the Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs, this latest study was the first to include general prevalence of compulsive and problem gambling.Â
According to the report, doing so would allow researchers to better monitor public health indicators for problem gambling and use that data to inform state and local officials on addressing the issue for anyone playing online casino real money games.
In the first year of assessing that prevalence, researchers found that up to 30% of Pennsylvania adults gambled online in some way, which is up from 20% that was reported in 2024. While most adults indicated they gambled in-person more than any other method, statistics surrounding the problem gambling hotline showed the impact the iGaming has in the Keystone State.
The number of calls to the 1-800-GAMBLER hotline increased 3.2% in 2025, with calls specifically mentioning online gambling jumping 5% to a record-high 1,230. Overall, more than 50% of the calls last year indicated the effect online gambling has had toward problem gambling.
Self-exclusion enrollment surges in 2024-25 fiscal year
Similar to the hotline calls, Pennsylvania also saw self-exclusion totals reach 4,403 new enrollments during the 2024-25 fiscal period. It also upped the overall figure to 11,195, a nearly 65% increase in the number of self-exclusions over the 2023-24 period, when the number of enrollments was 6,792.
The general increases could be a byproduct of the growing PA online casino industry as well as established platforms in the legal sports betting, land-based casino gaming and lottery spaces, including instant withdrawal casinos.
While many may point to these rises as problematic, however, they could also reflect how operators have made responsible gambling and problem gaming resources more available and accessible to users.
What's more, Latika Davis-Jones, secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP), noted that recognizing online gambling trends will help the DDAP expand its gambling-related services to include case management support for the first time ever.
