Golden Nugget Cleared To Launch IGaming In Pennsylvania
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Golden Nugget Online Gaming is poised to add its platform to Pennsylvania’s competitive iCasino market after receiving licensing approval Wednesday.
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board approved Golden Nugget’s online operation, which is now owned by DraftKings, as a “qualified gaming entity,” meaning it can operate in the state without being tethered to any retail casino. Only Bally Casino, which launched online earlier this year, has that same status.
Golden Nugget paid a total of $8 million for the right to offer online slots and table games in Pennsylvania. No launch date for the site has yet been announced, although it could come as early as next month. Unlike most of its competitors, no digital sportsbook will share its iCasino platform.
Golden Nugget, which has been a leading online casino operator for the past decade in New Jersey, joins a crowded Pennsylvania market that currently has 20 sites offering slots, table games, or poker via mobile phones or computer.
Combined, those sites generated $1.53 billion in revenue in the Pennsylvania fiscal year that just ended June 30, representing a 24.4% increase over the year before. Several additional operators are expected to enter the market this year, with WynnBET potentially the soonest.
Three retail casinos fined for violations
In other action at its monthly meeting, the Pennsylvania regulator issued a total of $67,500 in fines for violations at three of the state’s 17 brick-and-mortar casinos. They included:
- A $50,000 fine against Mohegan Pennsylvania for instances in which two different individuals younger than 21 gained access to the gaming floor. One of those underage individuals played blackjack on multiple occasions, and the other consumed six alcoholic beverages without doing any gambling, according to a consent agreement between the casino and gaming board.
- A $10,000 fine against Rivers Casino Pittsburgh for its own underage gambling violation, in which an 18-year-old used a fake ID to get past a security checkpoint and played blackjack.
- A $7,500 fine against Rivers Casino Philadelphia, which like the Pittsburgh property is owned by Rush Street Gaming, for allowing an untrained dealer to handle a roulette table. The dealer stopped the spinning ball and deliberately placed it on the number 20, according to a consent agreement, although there was no evidence he was in collusion with any players in doing so, according to the board.
In addition, the state regulator added to its involuntary exclusion list seven more individuals accused of endangering children by leaving them unattended in vehicles while the adults patronized casinos. The Pennsylvania agency has made reduction of such occurrences a primary focus, and those violators will be banned for life from the state’s casinos.
