Last night a bill passed in the Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives that would provide the opportunity for bars to apply for licenses to conduct small games of chance.  From the Philadelphia Inquirer:

Under the bill, about 4,500 bars and taverns could seek licenses to conduct pull-tab games, daily drawings and tavern raffles. Individual prize limits would be $2,000 for a single game and $35,000 over seven days, while raffles would be limited to one a month. The state’s budget analysts expect – based on the experience in Indiana – that about 2,000 bar owners will get licenses.

The vote in the Republican controlled House was 102-96 to approve and the bill will now go to the Senate. Republicans also control the Senate and Governor Tom Corbett has expressed support for the bill.

How much money will be generated and how will the revenue be split up? From the Philadelphia Inquirer:

Corbett’s office has estimated that the gross profits from the gambling will be $260 million a year. It estimated that 60 percent, or about $150 million a year, would go to the state; 5 percent, or about $13 million a year, would go to a bar’s home municipality; and the rest would go to the bar owners.

Stay tuned to find out if it passes the Senate and is signed into law.