Third PA Online Casino, PlaySugarHouse, Launching On July 17

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) confirmed to Playin Pennsylvania that the Rush Street-owned PA casino would undergo live testing of its online casino on July 17 and 18.

This is the third online casino set to launch in the state. It joins Hollywood Online Casino and Parx Online Casino, both of which are launching on Monday, July 15.

SugarHouse and Parx on abbreviated testing schedule

Since both SugarHouse and Parx have already successfully launched online sports betting platforms in Pennsylvania, the companies each only need to complete two days of online casino testing. Hollywood, on the other hand, will need to successfully pass three days of testing. It is completely new to the online gambling scene both in Pennsylvania and nationwide.

Here’s more on the testing process from PGCB spokesperson Doug Harbach:

“The amount of test days are determined based on the particular operator. Testing next week for Parx (Mon/Tues) and SugarHouse (Wed/Thurs) are two days since they are already operating online sportsbooks and some of the issues our staff is looking at have been completed. Hollywood Casino (Mon/Tues/Wed) requires three days since this their first foray online.”

Rivers rebrand is still en route for online casino

The online casino may start as PlaySugarHouse, but Rush Street already announced plans to rebrand all live and online elements of the property to Rivers Philadelphia by the fall.

In other words, the SugarHouse brand is not long for this world.

Meanwhile, the other Rivers property, Rivers Pittsburgh, technically does not have an online casino license. However, were it to launch an exact skin of the SugarHouse online casino under the BetRivers name, it does not need PGCB approval to do so. Meaning, it is entirely possible you see both PlaySugarHouse and BetRivers products on the market even though only one property actually has a license.

If you look at the BetRivers and PlaySugarHouse online sports betting apps, you will see they are, by and large, the same app, just with different branding.

The two sports betting apps feature separate sign-ups and accounts, including deposit bonuses and promotions. We will learn this week if the same standard should there be multiple Rush Street online casino sites for PA gamblers to choose from.

Written by

Jessica Welman

Jessica Welman has been a key voice in the legal betting industry since the repeal of PASPA in 2018. She contributed to and formerly managed several Catena Play-branded sites including Playin Pennsylvania, PlayTenn and PlayIndiana. A longtime poker media presence, Jess has worked as a tournament reporter for the World Poker Tour, co-hosted a podcast for Poker Road, and served as the managing editor for WSOP.com.

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