PokerStars-branded poker room a possibility
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board approved the petition for a sports wagering certificate for Mount Airy Casino Resort, in the state’s Pocono Mountains resort region.
The casino will convert a former nightclub into a combination sports book and poker room, casino COO and General Manager Todd Greenberg told the Allentown Morning Call. Greenberg said the property is moving its poker tables because the third-floor location of the current poker room has hurt business, contributing to an overall 37 percent drop in table game revenue.
The poker tables will accompany a 3,800-square-foot sports book including live tellers, self-service kiosks and flat-screen TV monitors. Greenberg said the casino plans to have the book open by the start of the NFL football seasons September 5. Mohegan Sun Pocono near Wilkes-Barre, which was approved for sports betting last month, has also pledged to have its book open by the start of the NFL season.
Mount Airy’s iGaming partner is The Stars Group, owner of the PokerStars brand. This development sparked speculation that the new poker room/sports book could carry the PokerStars brand.
The Stars Group had planned a retail poker room at Resorts Atlantic City, but the plan was shelved when online poker revenues in New Jersey took a dip.
Mount Airy’s presentation before the board suggested that Mount Airy could pick up the ball to create a PokerStars-branded room.
“Assuming the room will be a PokerStars poker room, all of the plans PokerStars had for New Jersey suddenly come back into play,” wrote analyst Steve Ruddock in Online Poker Report. “That’s particularly true if Pennsylvania (with its 13 million residents) teams up with New Jersey and shares online poker liquidity.”
Meanwhile, the board issued a conditional interactive sports wagering manufacturer license to KT Group Limited, the company that made the self-wagering kiosks on which patrons will place their bets at Presque Isle Downs & Casino. That casino has relocated slot machines to clear a 1,275-square-foot space for its sports book, which the casino has said will open soon.
“KT Group was approved Wednesday so they are good to go in Pennsylvania,” Gaming Control Board spokesman Richard McGarvey told the Erie Times-News. “Obviously, who they are working with is Presque Isle casino. They’re doing all the cabinet boxes that people would walk up to and do all of their bets for sports wagering on. They were a very important component for what (Presque Isle) is going to be moving forward with.”
Presque Isle has not predicted when sports betting will go live at the property. It is being built adjacent to the poker room and simulcast area of the casino, but the self-wagering kiosks that bets will be placed on will be located throughout the facility, including 25 kiosks inside the sports book itself.
The casino recently was acquired from Eldorado Resorts by Churchill Downs, which operates its sports books and online wagering through its BetAmerica brand. SBTech will operate the sports book.
Eight casinos in Pennsylvania now have operational sports books.
