Pennsylvania HB 2879 would require loss limits and ban VIP programs on all online accounts

Reps. Tarik Khan and Jamie Flick filed HB 2879 on Oct. 21, proposing required loss limits, a two-deposit daily cap and a ban on VIP and loyalty programs for every online gambling account in Pennsylvania. With two House session days left before the session ends Nov. 30, the bill mainly sets out what a stricter regime could look like next session.

• HB 2879 would limit players to two deposits a day and require an affordability check before more than $5,000 in deposits over 180 days.
• The Gaming Control Board's proposed Regulation #125-258 lets players choose deposit and spending limits, while HB 2879 would make daily and monthly loss limits mandatory.
• Pennsylvania iGaming revenue reached $2,933,453,989 in FY2025/26, up 18.42% from $2,477,083,825 the year before.
• Only two House session days remain in 2026, Nov. 9 and 10, and any bill not passed by Nov. 30 dies.

Pennsylvania Reps. Tarik Khan (D) and Jamie Flick (R) filed HB 2879 on Oct. 21. The same day, lawmakers launched a bipartisan Problem Gambling Caucus. The bill would require every online gambling account in the state to carry daily and monthly loss limits. It would also ban VIP and loyalty programs, microbets and credit-card funding, cap players at two deposits a day and require an affordability check before more than $5,000 in deposits over 180 days. On the day of filing, it was referred to the House Gaming Oversight Committee, LegiScan shows.

The calendar is tight. Only two House session days remain in 2026, Nov. 9 and 10, and any bill that has not passed when the two-year session ends on Nov. 30 dies. That makes HB 2879 less a bill headed for a floor vote than a detailed statement of where its sponsors want Pennsylvania to go.

HB 2879 mandates loss limits the board’s draft leaves optional

The fine print goes further than the headline provisions. Loss caps would be lower for players aged 21 to 25, and play would be limited by default to two hours in any 24-hour period, RG.org reported from the bill text. The VIP ban targets programs that assign players a host or reward them for playing more, depositing more or losing more. A microbet is defined as a live wager on the result of one play during a game. BettingNews reported that autoplay features would be banned as well.

The Gaming Control Board is working on a softer track. On July 11 it published proposed Regulation #125-258, rewriting compulsive and problem gambling rules for casinos, interactive gaming, VGTs and fantasy contests, with public comment closing Aug. 10, Vixio reported. The board’s draft requires daily, weekly and monthly limits on deposits, number of deposits and total spending for interactive accounts, but players would have to choose them. The Independent Regulatory Review Commission’s docket shows the final regulation has not yet been submitted. The gap between the two approaches is simple: under the board’s draft, players set limits if they want them. Under HB 2879, every player would have to.

A 126-page House-ordered study supplies the bill’s case

The bill traces back to House Resolution 60 of 2025, which directed the Joint State Government Commission to study sports betting and interactive gambling and recommend rules to cut problem gambling, gambling debt and children’s exposure to gambling ads. HR 60 passed the House 189-14. The commission’s 126-page study, released July 13, said lawmakers could ban in-game microbets and rein in VIP programs, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Khan and Flick announced their package on June 3, describing it as modeled on bipartisan bills from Pennsylvania and Colorado.

Khan’s office leans on concentration figures. It cites findings that 5.7% of online sports bettors made up 80% of gambling spending. A second example, which the bill text places in 2019 and 2020, involves a single sportsbook: just 0.5% of its customers, all tied to the VIP program, generated more than 70% of what the book earned. In a news release, Khan said the study revealed gambling companies “using predatory practices to keep people betting, even as they’re losing everything.”

Support is bipartisan but lopsided. LegiScan’s sponsor tally lists 9 Democrats to 1 Republican, which points to Flick as the lone GOP sponsor. The caucus counts six members, according to SBC Americas: Reps. Danilo Burgos, Flick, Khan and Ben Sanchez, plus Sens. Nick Miller and Joe Picozzi, a Republican who serves as Senate chair. Beyond the player protections, the bill would amend Title 35 of the Consolidated Statutes, set up a restricted account inside the Compulsive and Problem Gambling Treatment Fund and create an Online Problem Gambling Public Health Task Force.

Industry resistance is already on record. Joe Maloney, president of the Sports Betting Alliance, whose members include FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, bet365 and Fanatics, said after the study that the industry would probably fight a microbet ban, and compared VIP programs to Starbucks or T-Mobile rewards that bettors can easily opt out of. The same practices are being tested in court. About six former FanDuel and DraftKings customers have sued in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, alleging the apps use personalized algorithms and loyalty programs to target problem gamblers. The companies reject the claims and point to their limit-setting tools.

Loyalty ban would reach $2,933,453,989 market, poker included

The stakes for operators are large. Pennsylvania iGaming revenue hit $2,933,453,989 in FY2025/26, up 18.42% from $2,477,083,825 a year earlier, and generated $1,337,414,660 in tax, the Gaming Control Board reported. Because the deposit caps, required loss limits and loyalty-program ban would apply to all online gambling accounts, they would bear directly on casino margins and VIP marketing.

Poker is a small line in that total. Online poker brought in $2,270,481 in September, down 1.76% from $2,311,202 a year earlier, while online slots rose 8.99% to $197,374,613. Small, but not exempt. Pennsylvania is part of the multi-state shared poker pool, and a blanket ban on loyalty programs could also affect grinders and rakeback-style rewards on regulated sites.

Nov. 9 and 10 are the House’s last scheduled session days

Neither track is near the finish line. The board’s final regulation still has to go to the IRRC, and HB 2879 sits in committee with two House session days on the calendar. If it has not passed both chambers by Nov. 30, the bill expires with the 2025-26 session.

📷 Pennsylvania State Capitol: Scoboh, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons