Options are never a bad thing.
And as far as Pennsylvania online casinos are concerned, the options all seem to come with free money too.
Take BetMGM PA for example. The casino launched in Pennsylvania in December and has grown in popularity ever since.
BetMGM casino PA offerings
The BetMGM brand landed with 120 different slot titles including seven jackpot slots.
The casino also features two types of blackjack and eight types of roulette.
And just in case that’s not enough, BetMGM offers one of the best promotions in the industry, with a free $25 join bonus and a 100% match bonus up to $1,000.
In addition to being available for desktop and iOS, the BetMGM mobile apps are now also available for Android via the Google Play store.
Another perk provided by the BetMGM site is the casino’s incentive program, which is called M Life Rewards.
M Life Rewards program extends to online
Every time you wager on the site, you receive reward points, whether playing on the desktop site or the BetMGM app.
Different casino games will earn you a different number of points. Slots provide the best returns with one reward point earned for every $5 you wager. Progressive slots earn one point for every $10. Meanwhile, you’ll need to wager $20 on video poker or $25 on blackjack, craps, or roulette to earn one point.
As your rewards increase, so does your status. The BetMGM loyalty program has five tiers, which is the same at all MGM properties.
- Sapphire (starting point)
- Pearl (20,000 points)
- Gold (60,000 points)
- Platinum (160,000 points)
- Noir (By invitation only)
Rewards can be redeemed when booking hotel rooms and paying for restaurant meals at MGM properties. You can also use them as bonus funds on BetMGM sites, or in the BetMGM online store.
The well-known Borgata brand followed BetMGM into PA
A few months after BetMGM arrived in Pennsylvania, New Jersey’s famous Borgata Casino brand arrived in the Keystone State too.
Interestingly enough, BetMGM is the online and retail sports betting brand of the Borgata. It is also now the name of MGM Resorts’ interactive division, a joint venture with Entain.
BetMGM partnered with Hollywood Casino Morgantown, Penn National’s mini-casino set to open later this year, for online sports betting in PA.
The BetMGM casino falls under Penn’s Hollywood Casino Grantville iGaming license. Penn National is now at capacity for online casino skins with three under their Hollywood iGaming license (Hollywood online casino, DraftKings casino and now BetMGM).
The Borgata online offering was made possible in partnership with Rivers Casino Philadelphia. If a Borgata PA sportsbook were to launch, it would have to be partnered with another casino as Rivers has the BetRivers brand under its license.
So the parallel brands now both have a Pennsylvania casino presence. And as you might expect, some of their features overlap.
Borgata and BetMGM casinos compared
The Borgata online offering is available on both iOS and Android platforms and features more than 150 games.
Both sites also feature a relatively new addition to Pennsylvania, live dealer games. Whether you’re on the BetMGM or Borgata casino app, you can find a range of socially-interactive live dealer options including popular variations of blackjack and roulette.
The casino also offers a $20 registration bonus, along with a deposit bonus up to a $1,000 match. The Borgata online casino also utilizes MGM’s MLife Rewards program, with incentives earned in the exact same manner as on the BetMGM site.
One of the biggest differences in the two sites is simply in the interfaces provided by the apps or site you are playing on. And while they have different themes and color schemes, both sites are smooth and user-friendly. Learn more about Borgata’s online offerings here.
Online gaming revenues have risen sharply this winter
And although Pennsylvania’s overall casino gaming revenue dropped slightly (less than 1%) in February 2021 compared with the previous year (due to land-based declines caused by the COVID pandemic), the popularity of online gaming continues to explode.
According to figures released by the PGCB, PA iGaming streams saw huge year-over-year gains in February. Pennsylvania’s online slots increased by 425%, online table games jumped 207.5%, and online poker grew 37.7% YoY. Video gaming terminals also saw an 87.5% increase compared with the same period last year.
So it’s pretty clear both the BetMGM and the Borgata casinos have arrived in the right place. And their offerings keep growing, with a BetMGM online poker room due to arrive in the coming weeks.
Pennsylvania is embracing online gaming and the revenues generated by casinos – and the resulting tax dollars – will continue to grow.
In reality, the citizens of Pennsylvania might be the biggest winners in the end. They have numerous entertainment and gaming options, many of which (like the BetMGM and Borgata casinos) are available from the comfort of your couch.
People can play – and win! – at different sites without ever leaving home.
And options are never a bad thing.
Lead image credit: AP Photo/Vincent Yu