HARRISBURG, PA — The owners of liquor licenses in Pennsylvania will be able to apply for new tavern gaming licenses beginning on January 27. The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, acting with other relevant agencies has set up informational meetings across the state to explain the particulars of the licenses to those who may want to apply.

The meeting location closest to the Upper Delaware Valley is at the Luzerne County Best Western Genetti Hotel and Conference Center, 77 E. Market St. in Wilkes-Barre, on January 24 at 1 p.m.

The license will allow owners to offer “tavern raffles for a charitable or public purpose, pull-tab games and tavern daily drawings.”

The licenses will allow taverns to raise money for non-profit groups such as Veterans of Foreign War (VFW) posts, and split the proceeds of the raffles or drawings. For the purposes of the law, “tavern” is defined as a “for-profit” hotel, restaurant, privately owned public golf course, brewpub or microbrewery, all of which must be located in a municipality that allows small games of chance.”

A tavern does not include a grocery store, a hotel or restaurant located within a casino, or a sports facility.

The games that may be offered by a tavern with a license include daily drawings, raffles and pull tabs.

In the case of raffles, at least 50% of the revenue must go to the designated charity within seven days of the raffle. The state gets the lion’s share of the revenue left over, with 60% of that going to the state in the form of a tax; 35% may be retained by the licensee; and 5% will go to the host municipality. Also, there may not be more than one charitable raffle per month, and each person who participates in a raffle must be informed of the charitable purpose that will benefit from it.

A tavern may also offer pull-tabs, which are similar to scratch-offs in that numbers or symbols are revealed when the game is played,

Also, tavern daily drawings may be offered and are defined as games in which a person selects or is given a number for a chance at a prize. The winner is chosen by random drawing. Chances may not be sold for more than one dollar and no more than one chance per person may be sold per drawing.

Among other regulations: the maximum prize for any single chance is $2,000, and no more than $35,000 in prizes may be awarded from tavern games by a tavern in a week. The cost of obtaining a license runs to $4,000 but may be renewed on a annual basis for $1,000. Go to tinyurl.com/lkdshtk for more information.