Nine PA Casino Apply For iGaming Licensing – Including Sands

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In case you’ve been living under a rock, or you’re not from the United States, Pennsylvania became the fourth US state to regulate online poker in 2017 and the third to offer regulated online gambling. Earlier this year, the licensing process began and the initial phase is now complete.

After the first licensing phase, nine of 13 casinos have applied for online gambling licenses in Pennsylvania. Four have yet to apply but now have the option to piece-meal iGaming licenses in the state.

List of Licensees Include Adelson Owned Sands

It originally appeared that only three casinos would participate in Phase I iGaming licensing in PA, but with time running out, six more casinos placed last-minute applications for licenses.

The following is the list of petitions received by the PA Gaming Control Board:

· Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment, Inc., operator of the Parx Casino (received July 12, 2018)
· Stadium Casino, LLC, licensed to operate the unopened Live! Hotel and Casino Philadelphia (received July 13, 2018)
· Mount Airy #1, LLC, operator of Mount Airy Casino Resort (received July 13, 2018)
· Sands Bethworks Gaming, LLC, operator of the Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem (received July 16, 2018)
· Mountainview Thoroughbred Racing Association, LLC, operator of Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course (received July 16, 2018)
· Valley Forge Convention Center Partners, LP, operator of Valley Forge Casino Resort (received July 16, 2018)
· Chester Downs and Marina, LLC, operator of Harrah’s Philadelphia Casino & Racetrack (received July 16, 2018)
· Holdings Acquisition Co., LP, operator of the Rivers Casino (received July 16, 2018)
· Sugarhouse HSP Gaming, LP, operator of SugarHouse Casino (received July 16, 2018)

One interesting name on this list is Sands Bethworks Gaming, LLC, the owner of Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem. As many are aware, owner Sheldon Adelson lobbied to try and stop online gambling from passing in the state, ultimately failing.

On the surface, one may think that this is Adelson backing off his commitments, but in reality, it is just part of a deal with the Poarch Band of Creek Indians for the sale of the casino. According to the deal, Sands must apply for an iGaming license so that they can offer online gambling products after they finish purchasing the property.

Four Casinos Yet to Apply

Presently, there are four casinos that have yet to apply for licenses. They are Lady Luck Casino Nemacolin, Meadows Casino, Mohegan Sun, and Presque Isle Downs. Casinos that applied during the first phase of licensing were able to get a comprehensive license for $10 million that included licenses for online table games, online slots, and online poker.

Now that the first phase is complete, the remaining four casinos can now apply, but they have to pay $4 million per individual license. This would prove cost-effective for any casino not wishing to offer online poker or one of the other components.

Which Casinos Will Offer Online Poker?

The question now remains which casinos will offer online poker once games finally go live. It’s a safe bet that Harrah’s Philadelphia will partner with 888 and offer WSOP.com and maybe even 888poker brands to the state. WSOP.com PA seems like a virtual lock.

Mount Airy is already partners with 888 and there is talk they might be forging a deal with PokerStars. Should they pen a deal with PokerStars, don’t be surprised to see PokerStars network their PA and NJ sites together.

The other potential partner is Valley Forge who has been working n a deal with GVC, the company that owns partypoker. Again, this is another potential PA-NJ network to go with the PokerStars network.

Of course, we are still months or more away from any games actually going live, but for now, we at least are seeing some progress in the right direction.