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Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board data shows 115 Blair County residents enrolled in gambling self-exclusion in 2025, giving the county the state’s third-highest concentration of self-exclusions, according to Pittsburgh’s Public Source. The county recorded just six residents enrolling during the decade before online casinos opened in 2019.
The figures illustrate a broader shift in Pennsylvania’s self-exclusion program, which allows people to voluntarily ban themselves from licensed gambling. Enrollment has surged, particularly since online casinos launched, while participants increasingly live beyond counties with physical casinos.
Online access broadens self-exclusion enrollment
Before online casinos opened, people enrolling in self-exclusion largely lived in and around counties with in-person casinos, Public Source reported. The population has since become more rural, whiter, younger, and more male. By 2020, about five men were self-excluding for every two women.
Elizabeth Lanza of the PGCB linked the growth to round-the-clock online access.
“A lot of those people just didn’t gamble on a regular basis until the online gambling came and now they have access to it 24/7,” Lanza told Public Source.
The program also reaches beyond state borders. Hundreds of residents of New Jersey, New York, and Delaware have enrolled in Pennsylvania’s self-exclusion system.
How Pennsylvania’s self-exclusion protections work
Pennsylvania gamblers can enroll online, but the program applies only to the commonwealth’s licensed gambling platforms.
When someone who has self-excluded is caught gambling in person, casino operators call police. The person can be cited for trespassing and have winnings confiscated, according to Public Source. People who circumvent online exclusion using another person’s identity are typically reported to authorities for fraud.
Online self-exclusion ends automatically when the selected exclusion period expires, removing the individual from that exclusion list.
Lanza said self-exclusion programs have helped more than 30,000 people suffering from a gambling problem. Research cited by Public Source found that participants report fewer financial problems and improved quality of life, although a Swedish study found that 38% to 49% of people who excluded themselves continued gambling.
“It is not a cure-all. It is not treatment,” Lanza said.
“We always do recommend that individuals seek some type of either self-help or more formal treatment when they enroll in self-exclusion. But it has been a very successful tool.”
Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.
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Source: As reported by Pittsburgh’s Public Source.
This article was created with the assistance of AI and is monitored by our editorial team.
