How Pennsylvania's self-ban program fails many problem gamblers
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While his friends lounged in a mountain lodge jacuzzi, Tom hid inside, streaming the Packers game on his phone. He lost $2,500 that night — and some self-respect.
- "It seriously felt like I cheated on my girlfriend," the 30-year-old tells Axios. "I felt so ashamed."
Why it matters: Pennsylvanians like Tom are finding it harder to avoid the pull of gambling, especially with apps at their fingertips.
- And the state's only real barrier — self-banning — is still easily exploited.
The big picture: Pennsylvania hauled in a record $6.1 billion last year in gambling revenue — a third of which comes from online gambling.
- Nearly 20% of Pennsylvania adults gambled online last year, up from 11% in 2021, per a Penn State survey.
- Sports betting is most popular, and the survey found many admit to some form of illegal or unregulated play.
Tom, who asked to be identified only by his first name because of the stigma around gambling addiction, says his habit began on offshore sites as a college student:
- "It would make 'Monday Night Football' games a little more interesting."
Meanwhile, the state's gambling self-exclusion list keeps growing.
- More than 41,000 people have self-banned since the program launched in 2006.
- 7,400 joined in 2024 alone, up from 1,600 in 2019.
Yes, but: Between 2006 and 2025, roughly 10,700 instances were reported of self-banned people caught gambling or trying to, mostly at casinos, per state data obtained by Axios.
- And that doesn't count those who went undetected.
How it works
Pennsylvania lets residents ban themselves from casinos, gambling apps, slot machines, fantasy sports and the lottery — for a year, five or a lifetime.
- Unlike some states, Pennsylvania lets you self-ban online.
- Gaming operators face stiff penalties for allowing self-excluded people to play. Fines can range from $5,000 to more than $250,000, depending on the severity of the case, per state data.
It's essentially an honor system: Self-banned players must keep themselves away. Operators must catch violators with the help of ID checks, surveillance and online databases.
- And if operators do find self-excluded people playing, they're required to dime themselves out, hoping to catch a break and avoid fines for being transparent.
What they're saying: Operators' licenses are on the line, says Elizabeth Lanza, director of the state's Office of Compulsive and Problem Gambling, which oversees the self-exclusion program.
- But it's unlikely they'll be revoked for repeatedly allowing self-banned people to gamble because the state recognizes it's "impossible to keep out everyone."
- People will use fake ID or disguises to get by, Lanza says.
Between the lines: Even with boots on the ground in all of the state's 17 casinos, Pennsylvania gaming control officials have difficulty keeping track of everything.
- Lanza has a three-person staff to help oversee licensees, develop responsible gaming regulations and coordinate prevention outreach and education on compulsive gambling.
- While all self-ban violations are reported to Lanza's office, the state's Office of Enforcement Counsel investigates those cases and decides whether to issue warnings or impose fines.
"There are definitely flaws in the system," says Cole Wogoman of the National Council on Problem Gambling, a group that advocates to mitigate the harms of legalized gambling.
Stacking violations
Pennsylvania regulators have issued more than $1.1 million in fines for self-exclusion violations since 2009 — part of 49 consent orders with more than a dozen gambling operators.
Case in point: BetMGM was hit with one of the stiffest fines — $260,000 — earlier this year.
- The online platform also donated another $20,000 to the state's Council on Problem Gambling, after regulators learned 152 self-banned people had been allowed to play on its sites.
- Most violations were discovered after BetMGM audited its system against the state's self-exclusion list, per the consent order. The accounts were closed, and BetMGM hasn't experienced further problems since retraining staff and implementing regular system checks.
- BetMGM didn't respond to Axios' requests for comment.
Zoom in: Several casinos are repeat offenders. Rivers Casino Philadelphia, formerly SugarHouse, has racked up more than $145,000 in fines since 2012.
- The casino says it takes the self-exclusion program "seriously" and constantly updates policies and training to "help prevent" further violations, spokesperson Jack Horner tells Axios.
Live Casino in Philadelphia was fined $50,000 last year for allowing four self-banned people to play in its casino. Live didn't respond to Axios' requests for comment.
Parx Casino — an online gaming and casino operator in Bensalem and Shippensburg — has been fined six times for more than $87,000, including for sending promotional mailers to 146 self-excluded people.
Behind the scenes: Parx uses ID scanners at its entrances, but there's never a day when security doesn't find a self-banned person attempting to enter its grounds, the casino's chief marketing officer Marc Oppenheimer tells Axios.
- They're typically turned away at the doors. Dealers and other employees are vigilant too, but it's impossible for them to memorize all the names and faces on the list.
The intrigue: Catching self-banned players falls to a team that also works to sniff out cheaters, Oppenheimer says.
- Think of the "eye in the sky" in "Ocean's Eleven." Thousands of high-tech cameras — capable of reading license plates in the parking lot — are piped into Parx's surveillance system.
- The crew watches a wall of monitors inside a restricted area of the casino.
- If they spot self-banned players, they'll radio down to the floor to boot them from the venue.
- As an added deterrent, casinos can keep self-excluded players' losses and deny payouts.
The new frontier
Facial recognition may be the next big tool to keep self-banned gamblers out.
The latest: Live revealed at a license renewal hearing last month that it would begin using facial recognition in its Philadelphia casino by the end of the year, following the success of a similar program at its Maryland casino.
- State gaming officials approved Live's request, making it the only Pennsylvania casino currently planning to use the technology, Gaming Control Board spokesperson Doug Harbach tells Axios.
But some casinos, like Parx, are reluctant to use it because it opens up a Pandora's box of privacy issues, Oppenheimer says.
Meanwhile, there's a push for a coordinated national database to stop self-banned players from crossing state lines to dodge restrictions.
- Even a regional database, for example, would deter self-banned gamblers from hopping around tri-state area casinos, regulators and advocates say.
- "There's always more that we can do" to protect people, Josh Ercole, executive director at the Council on Compulsive Gambling of Pennsylvania, tells Axios.
The bottom line: Tom hasn't placed a bet in eight months after banning himself from FanDuel.
- With it set to expire soon, he says he's glad Pennsylvania's self-exclusion program is there if he needs it.
- Because, as he puts it, all it takes is one bet to fall back into the "hole."