Evolution Gaming struck an agreement with Australian bookmaker PointsBet to provide live dealer games to the online casino set to launch next year in New Jersey, via Twin River Worldwide Holdings, which is acquiring Bally’s Atlantic City.
Live dealer games are also planned for online casinos in Michigan and Pennsylvania.
Up until PointsBet revealed its plans earlier in August, the company only operated sportsbooks in the U.S.
PointsBet can’t launch the new product in New Jersey until that casino purchase goes through, however, according to Online Poker Report.
“We are thrilled to partner with Evolution Gaming to launch Live Casino technology in U.S. jurisdictions,” said Seth Young, chief innovation officer at PointsBet.
Live dealer games rely on video streaming technology to provide a simulation of being at a table in a physical casino. After acquiring its only U.S. competitor last year, Evolution holds a monopoly on these games. Once considered a novelty, just about every casino in New Jersey relies on live dealer technology for its online games. Live dealers slow the pace of play and increase the social interaction, more bang for the entertainment buck.
Evolution plans to add studios in Pennsylvania and Michigan. The additional studios are necessary to work around the Wire Act, should the federal Department of Justice use the law to prevent interstate communication for gambling. Courts are expected to side against the DOJ.
The Pennsylvania studio should open before the end of the year, and in Michigan by the first half of 2021.
“Evolution’s Live Casino portfolio offers PointsBet a rich mix of world-leading online Live Casino games including classic table games, online poker variants that are big favorites with U.S. players, and our new generation of award-winning, record-breaking games,” said Evolution’s Chief Commercial Officer, Sebastian Johannisson.
