Now we have a horse race: Hollywood Casino is jumping into the online casino race on July 15 along with Parx. That’s the first day allowed under Pennsylvania rules.

Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) spokesperson Doug Harbach confirmed the launch to PlayPennsylvania.com on Wednesday.

Hollywood to launch online casino the same day as Parx

Parx showed its hand earlier with a countdown clock on its home page ticking toward launch.

Now, both sites will soft-launch on Monday at 2 p.m. EST with live testing of their online casinos.

Hollywood partners include IGT, William Hill

Hollywood is something of a dark horse when it comes to the Pennsylvania online stakes.

While it is a horse track as well as a brick-and-mortar casino, it still does not have an online sportsbook app, even though it opened the first retail sportsbook in Pennsylvania. William Hill is developing its online sportsbook app.

Meanwhile, its interactive partner for the online casino launch is IGT, a major player in the online slot segment.

An online app will increase Hollywood’s reach

Hollywood’s location in a less densely populated area in Pennsylvania, a bit north of Harrisburg, means adding an online casino option should increase its market reach and grow revenues.

When the deal with IGT was announced in 2018, the companies said the alliance would provide “a full suite of digital gaming products, including the platform, and services” through HollywoodCasino.com.

Enrico Drago, an IGT senior vice president, promised:

Vast portfolio of proven digital solutions enables us to quickly address our customers’ needs across online gaming, sports betting and on-premise mobile gaming, IGT PlayDigital’s vast portfolio of proven digital solutions enables us to quickly address our customers’ needs across online gaming, sports betting and on-premise mobile gaming.

IGT is a global company with expertise in slots

IGT is in 100 countries and has 12,000 employees. The company is a significant player in the online slot games, which should align with Hollywood’s focus on slot entertainment.

Some of the most notable IGT slot titles are:

  • Wolf Run
  • Wheel of Fortune games
  • Cleopatra
  • Double Diamond
  • Golden Goddess
  • Elephant King

Penn National has grown enormously

Though it began as a small horse track, Penn National now operates 40 facilities in 18 jurisdictions. It has a focus on slots.

Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course has 2,450 slot machines and 56 table games and offers live racing and simulcasting.