Philly’s SugarHouse Casino joins NJ internet betting market

The owner of a Philadelphia casino that is one of Atlantic City’s main competitors is the newest player in New Jersey’s internet gambling market.

Rush Street Interactive, a unit of the company that owns Philadelphia’s SugarHouse Casino, has won approval from New Jersey casino regulators to become the state’s 20th legal online gambling site.

The site, www.PlaySugarHouse.com, is partnered with Atlantic City’s Golden Nugget, using its internet gambling license. It went live Monday, but was not announced by the company until Thursday.

Players from any U.S. state can open and fund accounts, but they must physically be within New Jersey’s borders when they gamble online, a requirement that applies to all of New Jersey’s authorized internet gambling sites.

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Rush Street opened an office in Cherry Hill to service its New Jersey operation, even as it waits for the day when Pennsylvania authorizes internet gambling within its own borders.

A proposal to permit online betting in Pennsylvania died in that state’s Legislature earlier this year, but the state is generally considered one of the more likely ones to eventually permit such gambling.

Rush Street Interactive is the online division of Chicago-based Rush Street Gaming, which developed and operates SugarHouse Casino.

Internet gambling has been one of the few bright spots in New Jersey’s gambling market. For the first eight months of this year compared to the first eight months of 2015, internet gambling revenue is up more than 32 percent, to $128 million. In contrast, revenue at brick-and-mortar casinos is up 2 percent over that same time period, to $1.76 billion.

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