Generating the best content for players has been a point of emphasis for Pennsylvania online casino operators. How that content is displayed when players log in is just as crucial.
In recent earnings calls, PA operators mentioned wanting to shift to a personalized marketing approach. I’ll take you through how some of the top online casinos in the state display games for me.
BetMGM Casino PA touts exclusive games on homepage
When I log into BetMGM PA Casino, a giant super series leaderboard promotion takes up the majority of my screen. I have the ability to click the “learn more” button in the promo, or click on the navigation arrow which changes the slide. Two of the messages feature promotions for games and in the other, BetMGM touts its 2023 Casino Operator of the Year award.
After scrolling down, I get a section that says “Recommended For You.” There are 12 games that I have to slide through.
Then, the “Featured” section, which says “Our Top Picks” underneath, appears to be the main course for BetMGM. There are 11 games in the section, with seven of them “exclusive,” meaning no other platform is offering the game.
Two of the titles are MGM-branded, which include MGM Grand Millions and MGM Riches. A PA player won a $1 million jackpot in April playing MGM Grand Millions.
BetMGM focuses on putting exclusive games front and center:
- Gold Blitz (Exclusive)
- NBA Gold (Exclusive)
- MGM Grand Millions
- Premium Blackjack (Exclusive)
- Buffalo Wild Wings (Exclusive)
- MGM Riches (Exclusive)
- Diamond Rush (Exclusive)
- Fortune Coin
- Big Money Frenzy (Exclusive)
- Bass Boss
- 88 Fortunes
Then scrolling further down, I get the following sections:
- PA Live Dealer Games
- New Games
- Jackpots: For The Biggest Wins
- Trending Now
- Top 10 Games
BetRivers Casino showcases interesting winner ticker
BetRivers Casino has the luxury of marketing its retail casino locations within the state. Upon logging in, the homepage offers animation links to sign up for rewards, promotes The Landing Hotel located at Rivers Casino Pittsburgh and highlights responsible gambling messaging.
Then at the bottom of the screen, without scrolling, there is a stock market-like ticker that shows usernames winning bets on games. For example, it displays information like this:
- Brandeye won 101x bet playing Buffalo Canyon
- Jaywynn1 won 140x bet playing All Aboard Dynamite Dash
Below the ticker, BetRivers displays the “Top Played New Games,” which is a section of 18 titles. Three of those games showcase a jackpot.
BetRivers then organizes games in the following sections:
- This Week’s Top 10 Slots
- $100K Super Jackpot Series Drawings
- Featured
- Latest Releases
- Live Dealer
It appears that BetRivers is prioritizing the current performance of certain games, and putting them at the top.
FanDuel Casino display is less detailed
FanDuel online casino also has a large display after logging in that markets its current chicken dinner promotion and additional deals:
- Play It Again
- Reward Machine
Right now, I have three free spins for a chance to win $2,000, which is right below the large display.
I scroll down and games are sectioned off with the following categories:
- Recently Played Games
- Featured Casino Games
- New Casino Games
- Top 10 Games in Pennsylvania
- Live Casino Games
Out of the five sections, Wild Expedition is the only exclusive game showcased on the homepage. FanDuel publisizes jackpot games at a much higher rate, with seven of those featured.
According to FanDuel, the top five games in PA are:
- Cash Eruption
- Fortune Coin
- Cleopatra
- Blackjack
- Divine Fortune (Jackpot)
Caesars’ bland online casino
Caesars Casino needs to be accessed through its sportsbook at the moment. However, Caesars announced last month it is launching a standalone online casino app for users.
The app is going to cater to the predominant online casino player and help with slot business. During Caesars’ 2023 Q2 earnings call, Eric Hession, President of Caesars Sports & Online Gaming, spoke about the marketing adjustments the company wants to make:
“We’ll be able to have some much enhanced real-time marketing capabilities. So we’ll be able to do some trigger-based responses to customers, which is something that we’re not able to do right now.”
It remains to be seen if the desktop version of Caesars Casino will get an overhaul.
Caesars’ online casino is much different than most of its competitors. The white background makes the casino bland. The homepage features a Quick Hit Ultra Pays Monkey’s Fortune slot game with promotions and jackpot games off to the right of the screen. Caesars is the only PA online casino on this list that displays its promotions not in the center of the screen.
From there, Caesars starts getting into featured games. Here are some sections after featured games:
- New Games
- Live Dealer
- Tap Your Luck
- Penny Slots
- Atlantic City Slots
Caesars also has more jackpot games on the right-hand side of the screen as you scroll, and has another section called “The Top Eight.” It’s more cluttered than other online casinos in the state.
Barstool Casino sections off games in tables
Barstool Casino, a licensee of Hollywood Casino, has a basic, but clean online casino setup on the desktop version. Three promotions are easily seen at the top of the screen, with exclusive games and table games right below those.
Five of the six exclusive games are Barstool-branded, which include:
- Barstool Blackjack Surrender
- Barstool Roulette
- Pardon My Take Slots
- One Bite Slots
- Barstool Slots
- Legendary Larry
To the right of that layout, Barstool has a section of nine table games. The only other two areas below the Exclusive Games and Table Games are “Featured Games” and “Featured Slots.”
Barstool said it will be more aggressive with marketing after migrating its sportsbook and online casino to its own platform. Like Caesars, Penn Entertainment CEO Jay Snowden is going to invest in a personalized marketing strategy once the migration is complete in July:
“Think about what we’ve been able to do to-date on third party platforms. It’s really more shotgun style marketing, not personalized really at all. So we do a promotion, it’s kind of a promotion for all. That’s not an effective approach from a CRM perspective. You’re under reinvesting in some customers and over reinvesting in some. So we’ll be able to tailor the reinvestment and the promotions based on what we know about the user.”
We’ll see what kind of differences there are once the migration is complete.
DraftKings Casino PA lists games in alphabetical order
DraftKings PA Casino has a slide deck of promotions on top of the screen, with a section of “Suggested Games.” Of the 15 games in the section, four of them are jackpot games and two are DraftKings-branded.
Underneath that offering, DraftKings supplies an “All Games” section, in which it puts the DK-branded titles front and center. After several branded games, DraftKings just displays them in alphabetical order, offering no real creativity.
