Casino

PA Online Casinos: Online Casino Games Launch in PA

By Kyle Scott

Published: Jul 15th, 2019 · 9:27 AM EDT

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Today is the day. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board has given the go-ahead for online casinos to launch in PA. Only a few options will be available at the start, but this opens the floodgates for full-scale online casino games in the state. This is in addition to PA online sports betting, which launched in late May.

Today, Hollywood Casino and Parx will launch their online casinos consisting of slots and some table games. On Wednesday, SugarHouse will launch a casino alongside SugarHouse Sportsbook inside its PlaySugarHouse app. In the coming months, look for other real money games to be added to the apps, along with other operators such as Harrah’s and Unibet.

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PA online casinos

1. SugarHouse Online Casino

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SugarHouse’s online casino will launch in July and offers select slot games with table games expected to launch in the future. Sugarhouse Online Casino features a shared wallet with SugarHouse Sportsbook, so users can deposit and wager from the same pool of money.

Games available:

• online slots

At launch, only online slots will be available at SugarHouse. The company is working to get table games and poker into the app.

Deposit methods:

• online banking (ACH)
• credit or debit card
• Pay with Cash at 7-11
• cash at cage
• wire transfer

PlaySugarHouse Online Casino app and platform availability:

• Desktop-laptop
• Android

The PlaySugarHouse app is not available on iOS thanks to a recent Apple App Store policy which restricts online gambling apps from using web (HTML) web code in their apps. This will impact PA online casino games more than online sportsbooks as casino games are more complex and numerous. The volume that needs to be re-coded for iOS is substantial, and so online casino games in PA on iOS may not be available for some time.

 

2. Parx Online Casino

Parx’s online casino is currently live but with very limited offerings.

Read about Parx Sportsbook

Games available:

• online slots

Like sugarHouse, only slot games will be available at Parx’s online casino.

Deposit methods:

• credit or debit card
• Play+ card
• e-check (ACH)
• Bank Wire
• cash at cage
• check
• PayNearMe

Parx Online Casino App and platform availability:

• Desktop-laptop
• Android

Parx Online Casino suffers from the same iOS issue and won’t offer an iOS app at launch.

 

3. Hollywood Casino

Holywood Online Casino is expected to launch for testing on July 15.

Games available:

• online slots

Expected deposit methods:

• credit or debit card
• check

Hollywood Online Casino App and platform availability:

• Desktop-laptop
• Android

Hollywood Online Casino suffers from the same iOS issue and won’t offer an iOS app at launch.

 

Bonus codes and free spins

Many PA online casinos are expected to offer players bonus codes. Right now, only one does: SugarHouse Online Casino.

• SugarHouse: MATCH250 $250 deposit match

 

The iOS restriction remains a big issue

Online casinos are impacted way more than sportsbooks when it comes to Apple’s App Store policy. Where the latter can just re-code one element, which is a text-based view with numbers, online casino games are varied and complex, meaning they require much more development work to come into compliance with Apple.

This means we may not see a deep catalog of online casino games in Pennsylvania for quite some time. This is an extremely limiting factor as upwards of half of all mobile users are on iOS.

 

 

Casinos eligible to offer online gambling

Online Casino	Existing online partners	Launch Date
Harrah's	888	July 2019
Parx	GAN	July 15, 2019
SugarHouse	Rush Street	July 17, 2019
Rivers	Rush Street	July 17, 2019
Hollywood (Penn National)	IGT	July 15, 2019
FOX Bet (Penn National)	Stars	2019
FanDuel (Valley Forge Casino)	IGT	2019
Presque Isle Downs	Golden Nugget	2020
Unibet (Mohegan Sun)	Kindred	2019
Wind Creek	N/A	N/A
Stadium Park Philly Live! Casino	GAN	N/A
MGM Resorts	bwin	N/A
Golden Nugget NJ	NYX	N/A

There are 12 licensed casinos eligible to offer online slots, poker and table games:

• SugarHouse Casino (soon to be Rivers Philadelphia)
• Rivers Casino
• Parx Casino
• Harrah’s Casino
• Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course
• Lady Luck Casino
• Meadows Race Track and Casino
• Mount Airy Casino and Resort
• Presque Isle Downs
• Sands Casino
• Mohegan Sun
• Live! Hotel and Casino
• Valley Forge

 

Who is eligible to play?

To gamble online in Pennsylvania, yo utmost meet the following requirements:

• 21 years or older
• physically located in the state of Pennsylvania
• not on a self or forced exclusion list from the PGCB
• not located in a casino while playing online casino games

When players sign up they are asked to give their name, address and other identifying information such as Drivers License or Social Security number. This is to confirm identity and be sure they are placed in the state when they bet.

 

Online casino tax rates in Pennsylvania

A big reason behind the delay in launch of online gambling in PA was due to the high tax rates. Online slots, for example, are taxed at a rate of 54%, which leaves little margin for operators.

Online casinos are taxed at the following rates in PA:

• Table games: 16%
• Online poker: 16%
• Online slots: 54%
• Sports betting: 36%
• Daily fantasy: 15%

 

FAQ

What sort of online casino games are legal in PA?

PA house bill H271 legalized online casino games including table games, online poker, online slots, online sports betting, and daily fantasy sports.

Do I have to live in PA to play online casino games?

Users do not have to live in Pennsylvania to play online casino games– they simply must be physically present in the state when playing. Geo-location software, such as GeoComply or your phone’s GPS, are able to accurately track your location.

Are there live dealer games ad PA online casinos?

Live dealer games are legal for online casinos in PA, however at launch no such games are available. It is expected the PA Gaming Control Board will offer them in the near future.

What other sort of promotions to online casinos offer in Pennsylvania?

Besides standard deposit bonuses and offers, you can expect online table games offering free plays, free spins, and jackpot refills.

Can you win real money?

PA online casinos offer real money gaming and the opportunity to win real money.

How can I withdraw my money?

Online casino operators offer the ability to withdraw to your checking account, e-wallet, check, and occasionally with PayPal and other online based payment systems.

 

The path to online gambling

The legalization history of online gambling in PA

House Bill 271 was approved by the PA Senate (31-19) on October 25, 2017 and later by the PA House of Representatives (109-72) on October 26, 2017. Governor Tom Wolf signed the bill into law on October 30, 2017.

Pennsylvania’s House and Senate projected a potential revenue in excess of $200 million in this current fiscal year to be generated via online gaming. The majority of that revenue was expected to come from online poker and gambling. The working understanding the state’s House and Senate operated under was that a limited number of licenses of $10 million would be assigned to interested operators, allowing for online slot machines, poker, and table games to be made available to PA residents.

Aside from the $10 million licensing fee for all three gaming verticals, the state is expected to offer six licenses allowing access to two verticals each for $4 million. There is also a $1 million fee for a platform provider license with sixteen expected to be hand out.

The exorbitant sums for the aforementioned licenses have likely contributed to why online casino gaming has been slow to roll out in PA; it’s somewhat cost-prohibitive.

In addition to the license fees to be paid by interested entities, the state has announced the tax rates that will provide revenue to Pennsylvania. The established tax rates for slot machine revenue, table games and poker are 54% for the former and 16% for the latter two respectively.

Other aspects of House Bill 271

Per the PA General Assembly, House Bill 271 not only opened the door for online casino gaming, but also:

• Daily Fantasy Sports
• PA iLottery
• Airport accessible tablet gaming
• Satellite casinos throughout the state
• Truck stop video gaming terminals

 

21+. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-Gambler.