HollywoodCasino prepares end-of-year poker launch on the IGT network inPennsylvaniaPennNational won’t launch PokerStars in Pennsylvania 888and partypoker still not opening their card rooms in the state
HollywoodCasino is going to roll out its online poker powered by the IGTbefore the end of 2019, the casino has confirmed.
H2:Hollywood Casino Confirms Roll-out of Poker by End of 2019
HollywoodCasino was among the first to launch in Pennsylvani taya365 a when theKeystone State rolled out its iGaming industry on July 15. The movefollowed months of delays occasioned by the U.S. Department ofJustice and the Office of Legal Council (OLC)’s decision toenforce a new Opinion on the Wire Act.
With this hurdle clear and almost killed by the U.S. Congress, even though momentarily, Hollywood Casino will join the properties to launch an online poker product before 2019 is out.
Operated by Penn National Gaming, which recently signed a milestone deal with multiple gaming providers and companies, Hollywood casino will be allowed to run all three gambling verticals:
SportsCasinoPoker
The operator obtained the license in July, 2018, coughing up the solid $10 million for all three licenses, part of a promotion run by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) at the time.
Powering Poker at Hollywood
Penn National has secured important partnerships regarding the software it would use on its newly-launched digital skins. The main supplier for the company remains IGT, a tech giant which has been in business since 2012 and which has provided a number of operators around the world with state-of-the-art iGaming solutions, including:
Sweden’sSvenska SpelItaly’sLottomaticaTheCanadian Poker Network
Penn’sbrand will use IGT’s poker platform to provide Pennsylvanianresidents with online poker options for the first time in the historyof the state. Meanwhile, the recent partnership between Penn Nationaland The Stars Group, the Canadian owner of the world’s largestpoker room, PokerStars, charts an interesting course of interaction.
Forstarters, Hollywood would go ahead with the IGT’s poker network in PAwhereas all other states, nine to be precise, will use PennNational’s PokerStars network license. This would create someinternal strife between the company’s assets.
Pennsylvania, A Place for Poker Operators
So far as poker operators are concerned, Pennsylvania definitely holds a lead on the number of poker operators that are planning to make an entry in the state. PokerStars will be available in PA as part of Mount Airy’s poker offer.
Anotherheavyweight of the online poker industry, partypoker, is also makingan entry in the Keystone State. The hopes are that theshared-liquidity between Delaware, Nevada, NewJersey and now Pennsylvania would come to rival what offshoreoperators offer.
Respondingin a Tweet, partypoker confirmed that they had no exact datewhen players would be able to join the network.
@partypoker Any plans to launch online poker in Pennsylvania? ETA?
— TheReverend_TTV (@beav1982) July 20, 2019
Moresurprisingly, 888 has given no indication that the company would beinteresting in making an entry into the state, despite being presentin three states already. Here is what 888 had to say:
We continue to monitorthe developments in Pennsylvania however our focus remains with NewJersey and other markets in which we operate at this time.
What’s Taking So Long?
Ultimately,one question seems to interest everyone, i.e. what’s taking so long?Presently, there are no real hurdles ahead of poker, but operatorsare taking a while before launching into the segment. GamblingNewsbelieves that brands are just focusing on more lucrative segments,including online casino games.
