When Rivers Casino unlocked their doors yesterday they became Pittsburgh’s only venue offering sports gambling in Western Pennsylvania.
Introductory Sessions:
The big kick off commenced at 2:00 p.m. Thursday, Pittsburgh time, and ran through until midnight. Day two’s fun and games are due to begin at noon on Friday and books will shut at 10:00 p.m. These are the introductory sessions which, should they be hiccups free, will become the norm on Saturday with a 9:00 a.m. anticipated opening time for sports betting.
Keena Excited:
Rivers Casino’s General Manager Bill Keena is particularly excited with this development and predicts Pittsburgh Steelers fans to really come to the party when the NFL team tastes victory. Las Vegas-born Keena can feel it. He fully expects Steelers touchdowns, which already create all kinds of passion, to be multiplied by ten with the arrival of the sports book at Rivers.
Good Feel Factors at Rivers Casino:
Keena who’s been acclimatized to sports betting for quite a while, believes the knock-on effects of when the Steelers are performing well, will generate a ‘Good Feel Factor’ at his Casino. He also went on to say that Pittsburgh locals love of sports is totally different from the way it is in Las Vegas.
How it Happened:
How did Rivers become Western Pennsylvania’s first casino to offer above-board sports gambling? Simple – Rivers owners paid a $10 million sports betting operating licence fee to activate a new state law agreed a year ago.
Director of Communications for Pennsylvania’s Gaming Control Board Doug Harbach made noises related to illegal sports related action totalling $150 billion. He regards bringing a piece of that above ground as a positive move.
