When Does Online Poker Start In Pa
Earlier this week, a rumor circulated on social media that PokerStars could go live with online poker in Pennsylvania this week.
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Professional poker player Michael “Gags30” Gagliano tweeted about the rumor that PokerStars would be live for beta testing on Aug. 27 and go fully live on Aug. 30.
@SteveRuddock@DustinGouker@OPRupdate@PlayPANews hearing rumors that pokerstars is gonna go live in PA for beta Aug 27th and go live the 30th. Any truth to this?
Earlier this week, a rumor circulated on social media that PokerStars could go live with online poker in Pennsylvania this week. Professional poker player Michael “Gags30” Gagliano tweeted about the rumor that PokerStars would be live for beta testing on Aug. 27 and go fully live on Aug. Pennsylvania’s online poker players have reason to be optimistic these days. PokerStars, the world’s largest online poker site went live in PA on November 2019. They also launched online casino gaming and online sports betting with poker.
— Gags30 (@Gags30poker) August 19, 2019
Jun 27, 2013 Subsequently the first officially licensed online poker sites in the USA start to pop up in 2014. New Jersey became the first state to allow PokerStars back in 2016. In late 2019 Pennsylvania follows suit and allows PokerStars to officially open its doors to players in the state. PA online poker launch update Online poker is officially live in Pennsylvania! After a two-day soft launch for testing, PokerStars PA (in partnership with Mount Airy Casino) went live to the public on Nov. Early returns were impressive with peak 24-hour traffic of 895 players and a seven-day average of almost 500 players. Nov 13, 2017 The faster the state rolls out online gaming the faster it starts collecting tax revenue. And for Pennsylvania, the best possible start date is no later than July 1, 2018. Reason being: Pennsylvania’s fiscal year begins on July 1 and runs through June 30 of the following year.
PGCB confirms no testing yet
Sadly, Play Pennsylvania has officially received word that there is no testing for this week.
A Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) spokesperson Doug Harbach stated:
The PGCB does not have any testing scheduled for this week. Mount Airy and PokerStars are working toward launching sports wagers and online products (slots, tables, poker). However, at this point, I do not know if they will be testing all of their different products at the same time or at different times.
All things considered, PokerStars is widely expected to be the first operator to launch online poker in the Keystone State. PokerStars partnered with Mount Airy Casino to gain approval for online poker.
Harbach also stated in a previous interview with Play Pennsylvania that “I would expect the Mount Airy retail and online sportsbook to be one of the next ones up and running.”
Why the online poker lag?
Certainly, Pennsylvania poker players are champing at the bit for online poker to launch.
Disappointingly, poker is not a priority for multiple reasons. Unfortunately, the Keystone State did not learn from New Jersey’s multiple issues with launching its online poker industry. Also, New Jersey’s online poker profitspale in comparison to its sports betting.
For example, in July 2019, online sports betting revenue was $13.9 million and online poker revenue was $1.9 million. To emphasize, NJ online poker revenue since launch only makes up about 1/10th of total online gambling revenue.
In addition, it could be that PokerStars PA is still testing its software to ensure a seamless launch. In general, peer-to-peer games have many more moving parts to test than online casino and sports betting apps.
Additionally, the PGCB is likely biding time in order to ensure online operators are fully compliant before online poker launches.
When Does Online Poker Start In Pasco County
Right now, there is not a question of “if” online poker launches in PA, but rather “when” will online poker launch.
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While players in Pennsylvania await for online poker to go live in the state, Hollywood Casino who was the first to launch an online casino in the Keystone State on July 15, has stated that it plans to launch an online poker product by the end of this year.
In a response to a player’s query ahead of the July 15 launch, the casino did admit that online poker “will not be initially available” but also said it is “hoping to have poker integrated by the end of 2019.”
Hollywood Casino, run by Penn National Gaming, is among one of seven PA casino license holders that have been approved for an online gambling license in all three of the categories of interactive games—slots, table games, and online poker.
The casino applied for an interactive gaming license back in July 2018 for a discounted fee of $10 million. Two months later, the casino got the green light from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board to offer online gambling within the state.
What Online Poker Software will Hollywood Use?
Shortly after receiving PGCB approval, Penn National struck a five-year deal with IGT, a major online and land-based gaming supplier. IGT offers a full portfolio of internet-based gambling products including slots, bingo, online casino games as well as online poker.
In 2016, IGT overhauled its online poker platform which has been under development since 2012, perhaps in prepration for the burgeoning US online gambling market. IGT currently powers three different online poker networks: Sweden’s online gaming provider, Svenska Spel; Lottomatica in Italy; and the Canadian Poker Network.
It is expected that Hollywood Casino’s online poker offering will also utilize the IGT online poker platform. It rolled out its online casino in Pennsylvania on July 15 through its association with IGT and NetEnt.
However, in a major development that took place on July 31, Hollywood Casino owner, Penn National Gaming inked a multi-year agreement with four leading online gaming operators including The Stars Group.
As per the agreement, Penn’s partners “will have the option to own, operate, and brand real-money online sports betting, poker, and casino offerings in each of the states” where the casino operates and where such activities are legal.
The agreement with TSG allows market access to nine US states but not Pennsylvania. Therefore, it is expected that Hollywood Casino’s online poker product will compete against PokerStars in the Keystone State.
What Other Online Poker Operators can be Expected in Pennsylvania?
Besides Hollywood Casino, PokerStars has shown the most interest in launching online poker in Pennsylvania.
When Does Online Poker Start In Pa Today
PokerStars was approved by the PGCB in late November 2018 after sealing its partnership with Mount Airy Casino and is expected to be one of the first online poker rooms to launch its poker operations in the state.
“We’re working with our partners and the authorities to finalize plans and bring our leading brands to PA’s players as soon as possible,” a representative of The Stars Group told pokerfuse ahead of July 15. “There’s a lot to look forward to, so rest assured we’ll be in touch with more details as soon as they’re available.”
Another major online poker platform, partypoker, may also appear in Pennsylvania, but as of now, its status is unclear. From a review of PGCB official documents, partypoker’s parent company GVC Holdings has applied for interactive gaming, but it still awaits approval from the regulator as of today.
But that hasn’t stopped the company from responding to user’s query on Pennsylvania. Like PokerStars, partypoker “doesn’t have an exact date yet.”
@beav1982 Hi, unfortunately we don’t have an exact date yet— partypoker (@partypoker) July 20, 2019
888 on the other hand, which already has a presence in three US states, surprisingly has not shown much keenness to enter the Pennsylvania market.
“We continue to monitor the developments in Pennsylvania however our focus remains with New Jersey and other markets in which we operate at this time,” said 888 representative in response to our query on the Pennsylvania market.
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However, both partypoker and 888 could appear in Pennsylvania as B2B providers that power other brands.
MGM in conjunction with Borgata, it’s New Jersey casino property, are likely to offer online poker in the state under the Qualified Gaming Entities provision and utilize the partypoker software.
WSOP.com is also expected to have a presence in Pennsylvania and to utilize the 888 software as it already does in New Jersey and Nevada as part of the All American Poker Network.
Parx and SugarHouse Casino also have plans to offer online poker, but so far, no further details have been released.
But Why is Online Poker Not Offered in Pennsylvania Yet?
It seems that the state regulators have given first preference to online slots and table games, presumably because they generate more tax revenue and are less complicated to regulate and test than online poker, which is a multi-player game where players compete against each other, unlike table games and slots which are played against the house.
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Pokerfuse reached out to the PGCB and asked if we are likely to see online poker in Pennsylvania in July or if the timeline is longer for the first online poker rooms to go live in the state. PGCB Communications Director Doug Harbach commented, “we cannot predict a timeline on that right now.”
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Furthermore, Harbach told pokerfuse, “poker will be rolled out when operators are prepared to do so.”