Caesars Entertainment Corp., which couldn’t have had worse timing with the start of its Pennsylvania online sportsbook last month, is trying to be a bit more opportunistic with its online casino.
Linked to the corporation’s Harrah’s Philadelphia property, the online casino at pa.caesarsonline.com launched Tuesday under a two-day test period monitored by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.
The second day of testing runs from noon to 10 p.m. Wednesday, after which the gaming board is expected to approve permanent operations starting Thursday.
The site was showing limited options Wednesday afternoon, consisting of 12 slots options with no table games.
Those slots were 88 Fortunes, Bruce Lee, Mad Mad Monkey, Raging Rhino, Starmania, Zeus, Celestial King, Kronus Unleashed, Spartacus, Monopoly Mega Movers, Zeus III, and Montezuma.
Timing could be right for more online casino play
Caesars becomes the ninth online casino in Pennsylvania at a time when use of that gaming option across the state is the one form of gambling clearly benefiting from stay-at-home guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic.
While the coronavirus health concerns have closed the 12 brick-and-mortar casinos and drastically reduced sports betting, online casino revenue statewide increased 24.5% in March over February, to $24.3 million.
The Caesars online/mobile casino shares the site of its sportsbook, which launched March 10. Its three-day test period was just concluding when virtually the entire U.S. sports schedule was suspended. The sportsbook’s handle was just $139,790 in March, and it actually suffered a loss of $18,075 for the month after taking into account the promotional credits it extended.
The online casino’s promotional offer for new signups is a 100% match on first deposits of up to $300 by new customers.
Caesars made no general public announcement of the new online casino option as of Wednesday morning, but it sent an email this week to individuals in its Pennsylvania database alerting them.
Caesars rewards credits extend to online play
By playing games online, Caesars patrons can accumulate rewards credits that can be used similarly to comps in its casinos. It is also giving away 1,000 online reward credits to new customers who sign up by this Friday.
For now, the Caesars site is available by computer desktop or Android phone. It says an iOS version is “coming soon” but gave no timeline for adding that or additional games to the site.
The Caesars online casino in New Jersey offers more than 580 slot games, 10 blackjack versions, and nine roulette options, among other play choices. It is common for operators to offer far more in the Garden State — where online casino play began in 2013 — than what they can make available initially in Pennsylvania.
