Card Player – The Pennsylvania study on the condition of the gambling industry in the state, with particular emphasis on the potential impact of online gaming, is coming back earlier than expected. Commissioned by the State Senate last December to be completed by the beginning of May, the study from the Senate Legislative Budget and Finance Committee is on the schedule to be presented Wednesday morning. “We wanted to see what the overall health of the casino industry is in the state and whether or not there’s room for expansion without cannibalizing what’s currently in place,” said State Sen. Kim…

Some in Pennsylvania have been pondering the idea of legalizing online gaming that would be offered from state-sanctioned sites, while at least one elected official now wants the act of playing online poker to be criminalized, according to an article on Philly.com. A state lawmaker is pushing a proposal that would make the “first violation a summary offense that carries a possible $300 fine and up to 90 days in jail”, while “a second violation would be a misdemeanor bringing a chance of a $2,500 fine and up to a year in jail.” Those penalties apparently wouldn’t be for running…

Philly.com – As Pennsylvania studies the potential of legalizing online gambling, state Rep. Mario Scavello wants to set up a road block to web-based wagering. The Monroe County Republican on Tuesday outlined a plan to penalize people who gamble online, which is illegal but not punishable in Pennsylvania. Scavello believes online gaming poses a threat to children who could easily find the sites and especially dangerous to problem gamblers who could go all-in and lose from the comfort of their living rooms. “Here again, online gambling is best described as the Wild West. Online, there’s no one around to keep…