The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board will soon begin accepting petitions from casino operators looking to become Qualified Gaming Entities.
This round of petitions is aimed at casinos that are primarily operating in jurisdictions outside of Pennsylvania.
A Qualified Gaming Entity has the ability to obtain one or more of the three categories of iGaming certificates that remain available in the state and can operate online without having any ties to a Pennsylvania Casino.
The PBCB will be accepting the petitions starting Jan. 3 and running through March 3.
This is the board’s second time making igaming certificates available to entities without a brick-and-mortar presence in Pennsylvania.
The first petition period was in late 2018.
Only one entity was determined to be a Qualified Gaming Entity during the earlier petition period, but the application remains in process.
The 12 remaining certificates, which cost $4 million each, are in the following three categories:
Three certificates for games which simulate slot machines.
Three certificates for bank table games which simulate casino table games played against the house.
Six certificates for non-bank table games, which are generally poker.
i-gaming and Qualified Gaming Entities are the result of the Gaming Expansion Act of 2017. The state’s 13 Category 1, 2 and 3 slot machine licensees had the first opportunity to apply for and obtain the 39 available interactive gaming certificates.
Most i-gaming websites in the state are operated directly by Pennsylvania’s “brick and mortar” casinos, or online operators who have entered market access agreements with those casinos. Qualified Gaming Entities can obtain access to the Pennsylvania online market without any such connections.