Bally confirms Golden Nugget launch
Freeplay poker site for casino group is first to go live with gaming machines provider's iGaming Platform.
US land-based casino operator Golden Nugget has gone live with a freeplay poker site, launched in partnership Bally Technologies on the supplier’s iGaming Platform.
The casino group, which last year acquired the Trump Marina in New Jersey to go along with its other properties in Nevada, is the first to go live on the platform, which Bally acquired from Chiligaming in February this year.
Golden Nugget had initially signed an agreement with Chili just weeks before that acquisition, and at the time set a provisional launch date for the start of the World Series of Poker (WSOP). While not ready for the start of the series, GoldenNuggetPoker.com has gone live in advance of the WSOP main event, which takes place next month in Las Vegas. Its freeplay site allows players to play in-browser or by downloading software.
Golden Nugget chairman and owner Tilman J Fertitta described the new offering as “A new way [for patrons] to enjoy gaming entertainment when they can’t be on property,” adding that “We believe that online gaming is inevitable in the United States, and that our free-play site will enable the Golden Nugget to be well positioned to compete when U.S. laws allow for online gaming.”
In addition to its acquisition of the Trump Marina, which leaves Golden Nugget well-placed should intrastate regulation in New Jersey be passed, the group acquired Mississippi-based Isle Casino Biloxi from the Isle of Capri Group in March, weeks after Representative Bobby Moak introduced an egaming bill in the Magnolia State. Its two Nevada properties are in Las Vegas and Laughlin.
Meanwhile Bally was one of two companies to receive an online poker licence in the Silver State when it – along with IGT – received approval from the Nevada Gaming Commission last week.
Bally Technologies CEO Richard Haddrill (pictured) said: “This partnership will demonstrate the advantages of having an open iGaming platform, which allows for best-in-class content.”
Upon initially signing the deal with Golden Nugget, Chiligaming CEO Alex Dreyfus told eGaming Review that the company would be positioning itself as “A boutique B2B provider,” and this appears to have continued since Bally’s acquisition of the iGaming Platform.
A provisional agreement to share US poker liquidity was signed with Aristocrat in March, and the two parties entered into an agreement with Shuffle Master and Ongame earlier this month. However that deal is now in doubt with Shuffle Master pulling out of its deal to acquire the bwin.party-owned network this morning.