Pennsylvania lawmakers Tarik Khan and Jamie Flick want to put mandatory limits on how online gambling companies take bets and retain customers. Corey Sharp reports that their three-bill package would ban microbets and VIP programs, cap losses, restrict advertising and prohibit credit-card funding. The proposals target the pace of gambling and the incentives to keep spending.
The main measure, HB 2879, would prohibit microbets: live wagers on a single action, such as the next pitch or football play. It would also prohibit proposition bets combining multiple outcomes within one sporting event. Those restrictions address products that let customers make repeated betting decisions throughout a game.
Online casino wagers would be capped at $2 per play for people aged 21 to 25 and $5 for those older than 25. The younger group would face a cutoff after aggregate losses of $750 over 24 hours or $2,500 over 30 days. Reaching those thresholds would trigger a 24-hour or 30-day pause, respectively. The bill also requires customers to set daily and monthly loss limits before their first wager.
The marketing provisions reach beyond a warning label. Sharp describes restrictions on celebrity and influencer appeals to minors, gambling ads during live sports and daytime hours, and individualized promotions driven by behavioral data or AI. The package would ban VIP programs that reward increased gambling and assess online gambling revenue to fund prevention, treatment and research. Separate bills address credit-card funding and protections for people who have placed themselves on the state’s self-exclusion list.
Revenue concentration helps explain that focus. Studies cited by the state’s July report found that 5.7% of online sports bettors accounted for 80% of expenditures. At one legal sportsbook, VIP customers represented roughly 0.5% of the customer base but generated more than 70% of revenue during 2019 and 2020. These figures describe the studies cited, not a new statewide count of Pennsylvania customers. They show how a small group’s sustained spending can matter disproportionately to an operator.
Legal Sports Report is an industry trade publication; the bill text corroborates the main restrictions. HB 2879 was referred to Gaming Oversight on October 21 and has no recorded votes. These are proposed protections, not rules already in force. Sharp notes that the session ends November 30 and unfinished bills do not carry into 2027.