PokerStars partnered with Mt. Airy Casino for its Pennsylvania online poker room.
Aug 14, 2018 Parent company of PokerStars, The Stars Group, announced it has signed a deal with Pennsylvania casino, Mount Airy Casino Resort, to offer a full complement of online gaming products to players within the state. People in Pennsylvania can expect to see the PokerStars branded online poker.
Following a two-day soft launch period which began on November 4, the PokerStars online poker platform is officially open for business in Pennsylvania. Players physically located within state lines can now log on to PokerStarsMtAiryCasino.com to compete in real money cash games, multi-table tournaments, and one-table “sit and go” tournaments.
In comments made to industry news outlet PokerFuse, PokerStars representative Rebecca McAdam Willetts celebrated the long-awaited entrance into its second regulated American market:
- “PokerStars PA is now officially live after receiving full approval from the regulator.
- We look forward to welcoming players in Pennsylvania around the clock and we’re very excited by the level of engagement and support so far.”
PokerStars PA operates under an iGaming license held by the Mount Airy Casino Resort.
PokerStars Makes it a Pair of American Markets
PokerStars returned to the U.S. in March of 2016 following a nearly five-year exile forced in 2011 by the federal government, following the industry’s “Black Friday” purge of operators who failed to comply with the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) of 2006.
But with the feds now deeming online / mobile gambling to be legal on the intrastate level, the world’s largest online poker platform has doubled up on its American presence.
To help accelerate the brand’s revival stateside, Toronto-based parent company The Stars Group partnered up with FOX Sports in May to turn the former StarsBet online / mobile sportsbook into FOX Bet.
In a press release posted to the PokerStars Blog, Matt Primeaux – who serves as president of FOX Bet senior vice president of strategy and operations in the U.S. for The Stars Group – positioned the partnership as Pennsylvania’s preeminent iGaming provider:
Primeaux said, “We’re excited to launch PokerStars as the first and currently the only online poker option available to players in Pennsylvania.
Including today’s launch of our highly rated casino product, which is now available in the FOX Bet and PokerStars apps, we’re proud to say we’re currently the only online provider offering all three forms of regulated gaming in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”
State Gaming Regulator Takes Slow Road to Poker Rollout
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf signed a comprehensive gambling expansion bill – which included online / mobile sports betting, casino games, and poker – into law back on October 30 of 2017.
A deliberative licensing approach taken by lawmakers and regulators saw 17 months pass before the first online / mobile sportsbook went live on May 31 of this year, followed by the launch of casino platforms on July 15.
Poker sites were expected to commence business on the same date, but despite the apparent similarities between the backend technology used to power the casino and poker verticals, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) continually pumped the proverbial breaks on PokerStars PA.
According to public comments made by PGCB spokesperson Doug Harbach, online / mobile poker’s status as a peer-to-peer game involving wagers placed against fellow players, rather than a house-banked game a la blackjack or slots, led to the delay.
As recently as October 30, when local iGaming industry media outlet PlayPennsylvania broke the soft launch news, Doug Harbach told reporters that further delays were still possible:
“We have staff prepared to initiate and oversee a test launch this Monday of another online casino gaming site, this one licensed under Mount Airy Casino and their suite of casino-type games.
At this juncture, it would include the testing of a poker game.
The caveat is always that if issues come up, then the beginning of the testing could slide.”
Fortunately for poker enthusiasts in the Keystone State, that caveat never came into play as PokerStars PA proved its capabilities to PGCB regulators during the successful soft launch.
Doug Harbach went on to tell PlayPennsylvania that competitors to PokerStars PA would only join the fray when operators were fully in compliance with PGCB mandates:
“There is no doubt there is a market out there for Pennsylvania poker players.
There is an excitement about it getting unveiled but, at this point, we are still waiting for the operators to be in a position to launch the poker games.”
As of now, the list of potential competitors that have iGaming licensing deals with local land-based casinos includes PartyPoker (Valley Forge), WSOP.com / 888 Poker (Harrah’s), IGT (Hollywood at Penn National), and GAN / Kambi (Parx).
ByThe news just keeps coming out of Pennsylvania. Poker fans waited for a very long time for good news about online poker, and they now have it in spades.
PokerStars became the first online poker operator to open in the new regulated market of Pennsylvania when it entered into a soft launch last week. And after just two days of testing, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board issued its approval for a full launch.
Players flocked to the site in significant numbers, so many that PokerStars PA quickly garnered more traffic than its sister site in New Jersey.
With that, PokerStars had more up its sleeve. The Stars Group partnered with Mount Airy Casino – its online gambling partner – to open a new space in the casino dedicated to live poker and sports betting.
All the while, PokerStars is planning to integrate Twitch features into its Pennsylvania site with the hopes of finishing in the first half of 2020.
Many Months in the Works
The first story emerged in June of this year. As players waited for online poker operators like PokerStars to launch their poker sites in the new regulated Pennsylvania market, a different type of poker story came out of the Keystone State.
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board announced something that was swept under the rug but for a keen eye on the press releases. A new poker room and sportsbook were in the works for Mount Airy Casino Resort, which was PokerStars’ land-based casino partner in Pennsylvania.
FOX Bet, which was the new US-based entity operating for The Stars Group (PokerStars’ parent company), was working with Mount Airy to create a new space in the casino that would complement its eventual online offerings.
In addition to a revamped Convention Center at Mount Airy, the space that had been Gypsies Lounge was set to be transformed into a new 7,000-foot poker room and sports book.
There's no limit to the fun you'll have in our new poker room. 🤑 #ExtraordinAIRY#mountairycasino#mtairy#nepa#Poconos#PA#poker#travel#gambling#casino#luxuryhotel#pokerroom
If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, help is available. Call 1-800-GAMBLER pic.twitter.com/C4U2yv9AJn
— Mount Airy Casino (@MountAiryCasino) October 17, 2019
Ideal Space for The Stars Group
The poker room was an obvious choice. It looked to offer 12 poker tables with many televisions on the walls to watch sports, and it would be easily accessible through several entrances. And, of course, it would be attached to the sportsbook.
On an upper level adjacent to the poker room, the sportsbook was to be approximately 3,800 square feet of non-smoking space.
In addition to flat-screen HD televisions, a bar, and plenty of seating, there would be live tellers during peak hours to accept sports wagers. Primarily, however, there would be four self-service kiosks – in addition to four on the gaming floor – to handle sports bets.
It made sense that The Stars Group would want to have its name on the poker room and sports book, but why the convention center? Think about live poker tournament space.
Open for Business
Toward the end of October, the poker and sportsbook area opened quietly as a soft launch. The area was new and ready for business.
According to the PA Homepage, players exploring the space were pleased. Mount Airy Casino CEO Todd Greenberg noted, “It is just a great cross-promotional space. I know a lot of people who play cards also like to bet sports.â€x9D
The official grand opening was set for last weekend on November 9. It was revealed to have 40 televisions in the sportsbook and room for 75 guests at a time.
The hours of sports book operation will be Monday through Friday from 2pm to 10pm, and weekend hours will be 10am to midnight on Saturdays and Sundays.
Greenberg told the Pocono Record, “We are just so excited that we were able to add this sportsbook; we really just want to say to people, ‘Don’t feel intimidated. Just come over and have a good time. We want to welcome you, like family into our living room to watch and bet on your favorite games.â€x9D
FOX Bet officially launched sports betting in Pennsylvania in early September.
Thank you to everyone who joined us for the grand opening celebration of our sports book yesterday! Stop by and place your bets today. #ExtraordinAIRY#mountairycasino#sportsbetting#PA
If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, help is available. Call 1-800-GAMBLER. pic.twitter.com/81QSZssAEI
— Mount Airy Casino (@MountAiryCasino) November 10, 2019
Online Poker Upgrades in Progress
PokerStars may have only been online for less than two weeks in Pennsylvania, but the company is already working on an expansion of sorts.
During the same week as the launch of the poker site, PokerStars representative Rebecca McAdam told Online Poker Report that they were already working on in-client Twitch integration.
The partnership with Twitch is not new, but the integration is something that was just revealed last month. It will ultimately link players’ PokerStars accounts and Twitch, so players will be able to receive prizes and awards for linking. It will provide a much easier crossover for players and their livestreams.
McAdam told OPR that this feature is expected to be life in the first half of 2020 for Pennsylvania and New Jersey players.
PokerStars is already seeing more players on its Pennsylvania site than its New Jersey one, so investments in the PA market are likely a market focus.
👀 Read all about PokerStars & Twitch integration 👀
Mount Airy Casino Online Poker Free
'Integrating PokerStars further with Twitch is just another step of a long list of plans & ideas we plan on testing with the aim of players getting even more from their time with us,' Stars told us. https://t.co/uImPnD4gjH
— pokerfuse (@pokerfuse) October 22, 2019
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