The holidays are upon us and SugarHouse Casino in Philadelphia is kicking party season off with a fete of its own this week.
The Pennsylvania casino launched its real-money online gambling offering in New Jersey in September. The property is owned by Rush Street Gaming, but the online gambling license was issued through the Golden Nugget. Golden Nugget also operates Betfair in the Garden State.
More on the SugarHouse launch party
The real money online casino in New Jersey is not the only thing the property is celebrating.
PlaySugarHouse.com also features a free-play version for casino and bingo that can be found at SugarHouse4Fun.com. The property is hosting a launch party for those offerings on Friday from 2 pm to 8 pm. The festivities will take place inside The Refinery restaurant inside the casino.
Attendees can get help downloading the free-play client, earn free bonus money for PlaySugarHouse, and earn free credits to play on SugarHouse4Fun. The party will feature over $1,000 in giveaways.
More on PlaySugarHouse
Both the real-money and free-play SugarHouse sites offer over 240 different casino games.
Some of the offerings include:
- Video poker
- A wide range of slots games
- Blackjack
The real money offering is currently only available in New Jersey, which regulates online casinos. Anyone in the US can play on the free-play site or download the SugarHouse app to their mobile device.
Players must be at least 21 years of age.
The future of PlaySugarHouse?
There is a chance SugarHouse Casino could be offering its real-money platform in its home state in the future. The efforts to pass online gaming legislation in Pennsylvania are currently on hiatus until 2017.
The state House has been eager to get a bill through. Approval from the state Senate has been more difficult to win.
Should legislation pass, SugarHouse will already be operational in a neighboring state. It would be poised to be one of the first to market with a PA online casino.
The New Jersey online casino is a new addition in a market that has been up and running since November of 2013. It is the new kid on the block and competes with offerings from Caesars, Borgata and PokerStars/Resorts among others.
SugarHouse may be the new kid on the block, but Golden Nugget’s online casino has been performing extremely well. Online Poker Report observed Golden Nugget was the first online operator to ever crack $4 million in casino revenue just last month. PlaySugarHouse and Golden Nugget are operating under the same gaming license.
Most online casino operators in New Jersey are affiliated with Atlantic City casino properties. SugarHouse is the first casino in the Philadelphia area to offer real money casino gambling.
It will be interesting to see if SugarHouse’s position as a casino on the western side of the state will result in any sort of competitive advantage online.