News and Analysis
White Hat Gaming Live in PA
White Hat Gaming and BetMGM have agreed to a new content deal for BetMGM and Borgata PA. The agreement continues White Hat Gaming’s debut in the US, which saw the studio first launch in Michigan in June last year. Since the studio’s games have proved so popular in the US that three titles were featured in January’s edition of the Eiler & Krejcik gaming report. You can check out White Hat Gaming at BetMGM PA and Borgata PA.
Indiana: the next state giving the green light to online gaming?
Big news from Indiana this week: House Bill 1536, which seeks to legalize online casino and poker sites, and online lottery, has been filed in the House of Representatives. The bill is similar to one prosed last year, which failed to pass the committee stage.
Should this bill pass the Public Policy Committee by February 27th, it will pass to the Senate. Many industry insiders have pointed to New York and Indiana as the next states most likely to regulate legal online casinos. We’ll bring you more news on HB 1536 as it progresses.
High 5 Games and BetMGM agree on content expansion deal for PA
In more good news for Pennsylvania players; High 5 Games has penned a deal with BetMGM this week to supply its games to the casino’s PA lobby. The most popular High 5 titles include Platinum Goddess, Triple Double Da Vinci Diamonds, Green Machine Deluxe, and the studio’s trademark Rapid Rewards in-game bonus journey. H5G titles can also be found at other US sites- look at the complete list of H5G casinos.
PA gamblers close 2022 by smashing revenue records
The figures are in, and it’s official, PA players smashed revenue records in 2022 with a total gaming revenue of $5.2 billion. That’s an all-time high for the state, with PA online casino revenue alone increased by 22.6%! Retail slots remained the biggest source of revenue. Hollywood Casino at Penn National was named the top earner.
New PlayAGS and Caesars supplier deal
AGS has signed a deal with Caeasar’s to see the studio’s content live at Ceasars NJ and PA online casinos. AGS has a portfolio of around 30 slots, plus other real money games. Caesars Digital Senior VP of iGaming, Mathew Sunderland, commented on the deal;
“AGS games are an exciting addition to our collection of online casino games. We anticipate this new content to be popular among our players given its successful track record for performing well both online and in brick-and-mortar casinos.”
Hawaii bill proposes state regulator
In our last nugget of weekly gambling news, a bill has been introduced to Hawaiian legislators to establish a body responsible for regulating gambling in the territory. Current laws prohibit gambling of all kinds. The new bill would alter this by introducing the Hawaiian Lottery and Gaming Corporation to regulate gambling, excluding sports betting, which would remain illegal. Five similar bills were proposed during the 2022 legislative session, with none passing.
Game of the Week
Astro Cat Deluxe by Lightning Box, RTP: 95.45%
As you’ll see in the screengrab below, a lot is going on with this slot game, so we’ll start by laying down some stats:
- Reel layout: 33-4444-33
- Betways: 1,296
- Max wins up to 20,000x your bet, which caps out at $50
- Spins start from $0.50
- Bonus features include Reelfecta™, free spins, bonus wheel, progressive jackpots, mega symbols, multipliers, re-spins, wilds, and sticky wilds.
The gameplay starts with 1,296 ways to win and the Reelfecta™ third reel: this is a 4x4 grid that contains 16 symbols and adds the potential of bigger wins when matched with other reels. While the base game is packed with action, like any decent slot player, you’ll be looking to hit up 5 Wheel Scatter symbols if you want to spin the bonus wheel to win access to the bonus round, credits + multiplier, or one of four progressive jackpot payouts!
If you miss a jackpot and hit the bonus round, you won’t be disappointed, as it’s a free spin round with a few tricks up its sleeve in the form of extra spins, locked wilds, and Mega Spins!
Get in on the action, and check out Astro Cat Deluxe at these US Lightning Box online casinos.
