Red Rake, a Spain and Malta-based online casino game supplier,now has ties to Pennsylvania online gambling thanks to a new social casino deal with Wind Creek Bethlehem’s parent company, Wind Creek Hospitality.
Wind Creek Hospitality and Pala Interactive, today announced the full public launch of Wind Creek Casino’s online gaming platform in the state of Pennsylvania powered by Pala Interactive. As part of this partnership, Pala will provide Wind Creek with its online player account management system and real money casino.
That potentially sets the table for things to come, namely a real-money gaming move into the United States by Red Rake.
Wind Creek has licenses for online slots and table games as well as online poker. Wind Creek also plans to move forward on sports betting in Pennsylvania at some point.
Red Rake’s objective is hiding in plain sight. A quote in the announcement of the deal mentions moving to real-money gaming in the US.
Nick Barr, Managing Director of Red Rake Malta, spilled his company’s underlying objective in announcing the deal:
This a significant step for us, because not only is this our first partner in the social casino industry as a B2B entity, but also because it is the foundation of what we expect to be another great regulated market for us in terms of real money. We anticipate a great partnership with Wind Creek for many years to come.
Red Rake has been in the gaming business since 2011. The company began a move toward real money in 2016, the company states on its website.
Engage Innovation is the platform provider for the Wind Creek social casino. The Red Rake deal is to supply games to the existing social platform.
No platform provider for the online wagering has been announced, though Wind Creek said they had plans to find one as far back as May of this year.
Red Rake’s suite of slots, video bingo, and table games should go live in the coming weeks on windcreekcasino.com.
There’s also a nugget in the background, too, about what seems to be behind Red Rake’s venture now with Wind Creek.
After all, Wind Creek already offers plenty of options on its existing social casino.
So why double down unless there’s new revenue?
The answer seems to be future revenue. The Bethlehem location is not far from the New York City Metro area. Traditionally it’s been a revenue leader in the Keystone State.
Adding new offerings on the social gaming site could quickly help revenue elsewhere. That’s because an influx of email addresses and information from potential patrons will flow.
These emails will come in handy when it is time to find new customers to sign up for a Wind Creek Bethlehem real-money online casino product.
Wind Creek has other locations but lacks online
Wind Creek Hospitality (WCH) owns the Bethlehem location.
The Poarch Band of Creek Indians in Alabama owns the WCH company. Wind Creek also operates gaming facilities in Alabama, Nevada, Aruba, and Curacao.
WCH announced they were buying the former Sand’s location for $1.3 billion in March of 2018. But the deal took more than a year to close.
Ron Nesbitt, WCH Vice President of Game Operations, explained the usefulness of social gambling as a patron retention tool:
We are delighted to enhance our offering with the addition of Red Rake Gaming content. The games provided are very strong, with high-quality graphics, action-packed feature games, and immersive bonus rounds. Combined with our top-notch rewards program, Red Rake’s game offerings will help us ensure a fantastic player experience.
And the sign-up information provided to play social casino games definitely should mean growing a new pool of potential players.