New Pa. law governing games of chance confusing for some

A law signed last February governing small games of chance was intended to benefit the nonprofit groups holding raffles and drawings to raise money for their community.

But lawmakers and State Police troopers enforcing it say the heightened awareness resulting from the changes have led to confusion.

One change allows nonprofits to keep up to 30 percent of game proceeds for their own operational expenses. Before, they couldn’t keep any portion, says Sergeant James Jones.”We would get calls on a routine basis that started out with, ‘Now that we can only use 30 percent for our club…'” said Jones. “And our answer was, ‘Well you weren’t allowed to use any before.’ They didn’t realize.” Jones says he’s been battling such misinformation on various points of the law.

He says it shows that over the years, organizations have come to think of small games of chance proceeds as their own money, and not intended to serve their communities.