Pennsylvania Gambling Self-Exclusion Requests Jump 18 Percent to More Than 30,000

The number of people asking Pennsylvania to ban them from gambling rose more than 18 percent in the last fiscal year, according to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board’s annual report released on Sept. 30.

In fiscal year 2025-26, 9,677 people newly enrolled in self-exclusion, up 18.1 percent from 8,197 the year before. More than 30,000 people are now on the state’s self-exclusion lists.

The increase took off after the first online casino opened in 2019. Six years ago fewer than 1,500 people had enrolled. Now the number is above 30,000.

The problem is no longer confined to areas near casinos. A Public Source analysis of the board’s data found self-exclusion requests rising across the state. Last year in Blair County, 115 people enrolled in a single year, just under one in every 1,000 residents.

Easier enrollment is part of the increase. Elizabeth Lanza, director of the board’s Office of Compulsive and Problem Gambling, said sign-ups rose after people were allowed to enroll online instead of at a casino.

A 2025 Penn State University study found that as many as 6.4 percent of Pennsylvania adults may have a gambling addiction. The state Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs estimates the number of problem gamblers at 200,000 to 700,000.

The state’s gambling market keeps growing at the same time. Total gambling revenue topped $7 billion for the first time, and tax revenue topped $3 billion. Online gambling revenue rose 18 percent, while revenue from in-person casinos fell 0.5 percent.