Pennsylvania Online Casino Operator Starts Live Dealer Action
Rush Street Interactive’s PlaySugarHouse online casino becomes the eighth NJ gambling site with Evolution Gaming
Rush Street Interactive announced Friday that its PlaySugarHouse online casino has commenced live casino operations powered by Evolution Gaming, becoming the eighth New Jersey gambling site to bring in live dealer games.
“Evolution pioneered the product category and is globally considered to have the leading live dealer products,” Ken Adams, head of New Jersey operations for Rush Street Interactive, said in a statement. “This reinforces PlaySugarHouse.com’s commitment to offering New Jersey’s online players the best mix of innovative and entertaining games available.”
PlaySugarHouse joins a group of three online casinos that are offering live dealer games powered by Evolution.
Hard Rock online casino became the first to go live with its product Thursday after Evolution received the regulatory thumbs-up to open for business (see previous InfoPowa report). Earlier Friday, 888 Casino NJ also launched its line of Evolution live dealer games.
The third is Ocean Resort Casino operating on a Golden Nugget gaming licence and powered by Evolution, which is expected to launch in the near future.
The flurry of live dealer launches this week is likely to upset Golden Nugget’s dominance in the sector, where it has been active since 2016 using Ezugi live casino technology and services. Also active in the vertical are Borgata, PartyCasino, and playMGM who all launched earlier this year powered by Ezugi.
Pennsylvania Casino Operators Go To Court Over State Lottery’s Online Games (Update)
Seven operators take their opposition to online casino games being offered by the state lottery to the next level
Concerns by Pennsylvanian land casino operators over the launch of online casino-style games by the state lottery earlier this year (see previous InfoPowa reports) escalated to litigation Wednesday when seven operators – half the number licensed in the state – filed suit in the Commonwealth Court against the Pennsylvania Lottery.
The filing petitioned the court to stop the lottery from offering the games, arguing that state gambling law reserves such activity exclusively for licensed casino operators.
The operators claim that several of the Lottery’s games improperly imitate the look, sound and feel of slot machines in a number of ways, including:
- Using similar titles to gambling machines found on casino floors;
- Presenting games with spinning wheels, cascading tiles or other animations typical to casino games;
- Duplicating coin denominations typical of casino games which have not been deployed in porevious lottery presentations;
- Requiring a player to set bets, a term that traditional Lottery products do not use;
- Offering casino-style incentives such as free play offers and a patron loyalty program;
- Violate state laws prohibiting the lottery from offering “simulated casino-style lottery game, including video poker, video roulette, slot machines or video blackjack.”
The filing further alleges that the lottery is contravening state laws restricting persons under 21 years from entry to gaming floors by selling tickets to 18 -year-old punters.
A lottery spokesman reiterated the lottery’s position that the games are part of a continuing initiative to give lottery customers what they want, at the same time generating revenue to maintain the lottery’s market position and generate funds for social projects.
The majority of Pennsylvania’s land casino operators have applied for $10 million online gambling licenses, and have a competitive interest in the lottery’s activity online which has been launched ahead of them.
InfoPowa readers will recall that earlier this year the casino operators also approached the state Revenue Department, which supervises the lottery, seeking collaboration rather than confrontation.
Following those discussions the lottery made some amendments to its marketing approach to the iLottery games, but not to the games themselves.
International Testing Agency Approved By Pennsylvania Gambling Regulator
BMM Testlabs announces approval by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board for interactive gaming
US-headquartered international gambling test agency BMM Testlabs announced Thursday that it has been approved by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board as an Independent Testing Lab for interactive gaming equipment and interactive game themes to be used within Pennsylvania.
Travis Foley, Chief Operating Officer of BMM International said, “BMM has been licensed and approved by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board as an ITL since 2015. We are pleased to have received this new approval and appreciate the opportunity to continue to provide our expertise across the interactive gaming space.”
This approval means that BMM will perform testing services on interactive game software applying the standards within Board regulations, and provide its test reports to the Boards Gaming Lab.
