Months ago, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board announced that casino operators with online gaming licensing needed to be ready by July 15th so that a coordinated launch could take place among those who were ready to launch. As of this week, Parx Casino has announced they have plans to launch on the exact date of the 15th. An online announcement was posted by the company yesterday to alert of the impending launch.
Countdown Clock
Players who visit the website of the Parx Casino will find a countdown clock is ticking away time until 2pm on July 15th. The Philadelphia casino is the first in the state to announce they will be ready to launch by the date set by the Gaming Control Board.
Players who sign up for the online casino site will be subject to geolocation tools that confirm their location. Players must be physically located in Pennsylvania to take part in online gaming. The brand already offers online sports betting, having launched their site on June 24th.
For now, the offering of Parx is standalone, with sports betting being one app and online casino gaming to be another. However, in the future, the online gambling offering of the company could be combined. An issue arose in the state with applications for iGaming as Apple recently changed their regulations and sites were not ready to be compliant. For now, only players with Android devices will be able to download applications.
What’s To Come?
So, what will Parx Casino’s online offering provide? According to the countdown announcement, the site will include baccarat, blackjack, craps, live dealer games, roulette, slots and video poker. With the ad, the casino stated that hundreds of slots will be on offer.
The site has plans to provide classic slot titles as well as video slot games and progressives. Free spins as well as bonus rounds and other incentives are expected. Parx will only be offering an online casino as of July 15th it seems. The brand is one of a select few that has an online poker license, though it does not seem that the brand will be offering this option at this time.
Will Anyone Else Launch?
It remains to be seen as to if any other operators will be ready to launch by the 15th. Several operators have licensing to offer online casino and/or poker gaming, but no other company has announced that operations will be ready.
When it comes to sports betting, Parx along with Bet Rivers, of the Rivers Casino, and the SugarHouse Sportsbook, are among those that launched online services. It could be the Rush Street Gaming, the operator behind Bet Rivers and SugarHouse sports betting brands could be ready to launch in time, though no official announcement has been made.
The launch of online gaming in Pennsylvania has been highly anticipated for years. The state was the first to legalize online gaming since 2013, having done so in late 2017. All of 2018 was used to set up the industry, from creating regulations to operators figuring out partnerships.
Now that the first site is just days away from being live, all eyes will be on Pennsylvania and how well they enter the online gaming market. If successful, other states in the US may be more open to launching online services which could start a trend where we see more and more states passing legislation to get in on the action.
We shall see by the 15th just how well-received the site is and what Parx will be offering, along with any other sites that might be ready to launch at the same time!
