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Less than a year after Pennsylvania posted another record stretch for online casino play, a new state-commissioned assessment is warning that the growth is showing up in the state’s help line data.
The 2025 Pennsylvania Interactive Gaming Assessment, prepared by researchers tied to Penn State’s Social Science Research Institute for the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs, says more than half of calls from Pennsylvania residents to 1-800-GAMBLER now point to problems connected to online gambling.
The money is still rising fast
PGCB says Pennsylvania’s regulated online casinos generated $2.776 billion in revenue in 2025, helping push the state’s total regulated gaming revenue to $6.796 billion for the year.
The Penn State team also found that online participation moved sharply higher
The assessment reported that as many as 30 percent of adults said they gambled online in the past year, up from 20 percent in the prior year’s assessment, based on survey work that included more than 3,500 residents.
“This year we expanded our survey to include the prevalence of compulsive and problem gambling,” said lead researcher Glenn Sterner, in Penn State’s summary of the findings. He said the expanded measures are meant to help the state track problem gambling as a public health signal.
The report estimates that 2.5 percent to 6.4 percent of Pennsylvanians may be problem gamblers, with the highest risk concentrated among people who gamble both online and offline. It also flags spillover beyond the regulated market, stating that more than 10 percent of adults reported gambling on sites or formats not registered with and regulated by the state.
Hotline calls and self-exclusions point the same direction
Alongside the “more than half” figure, reporting that cited the assessment said total hotline volume rose 3.2 percent in 2025, while calls that specifically mentioned online play increased 5 percent to a record 1,230.
The same reporting said self-exclusion enrollments climbed as well, with 4,403 new sign-ups in the 2024–25 fiscal year, bringing the total to 11,195.
DDAP says it will expand support, not just count the trend
DDAP Secretary Latika Davis-Jones said the findings will guide how the agency responds, including an expansion of gambling services to include case management supports for the first time. In the Penn State summary, Davis-Jones said callers to 1-800-GAMBLER can be connected not only to treatment options but also to practical supports that can sit outside traditional care, such as help with daily needs that often worsen financial and family stress.
Source: Play USA
