With an eye toward online gambling legalization, Pennsylvania’s Parx Casino (pictured) has inked a deal with Irish software maker GameAccount to provide a “gaming-as-entertainment” online experience for its customers.

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GameAccount launched the service, known as Simulated Gaming, early this year in order to tap into the burgeoning regulated US internet market. In anticipation of legislation, land-based casinos can deploy the software to set up a social gaming site and offer patrons a full complement of play money casino games.

Parx Casino, owned by Greenwood Racing, is the market leader in Eastern Pennsylvania’s five-property market, commanding a 30% share.

In the event that the industry becomes legalized, the service can be easily upgraded to provide real money online gaming. “By deploying their system on-property, Parx Casino will have the opportunity to launch Simulated Gaming nationwide before year’s end and be well prepared in the event that regulation of real money internet gaming emerges in the State of Pennsylvania,” said John Dixon, Greenwood Entertainment CTO.

According to a press release, Simulated Gaming provides a host of benefits to brick-and-mortar casinos, including increasing visitation to the property, while driving new traffic. The service has “been proven to monetize internet traffic to existing websites operated by land-based US casinos, with more than 10% of players spending an average of three times more than players of Social Casino applications operated on Facebook,” the company stated.

GameAccount has already made headway into the US market via a partnership with Betfairin New Jersey. “GameAccount has demonstrated its Regulated Gaming capability in New Jersey and the merits of Simulated Gaming when integrated with a casino management system,” said Dixon.

That relationship, however, could be in doubt now that Trump Plaza, Betfair’s online gaming license partner, has announced that it will be closing its doors in September.

Pennsylvania is widely believed to be one of the next states to legalize online gambling. In May, the Senate Community, Economic, and Recreational Development Committee released a study estimating that the online gambling industry could generate up to $184 million in state revenue in the first year and grow to $307 million in later years. Read the findings.

Online poker would make up $77 million of that amount in the first year, reaching $129 million in subsequent years. The study was enough to turn State Senator Kim Ward (pictured), Chair of the committee, into a proponent of the industry.

“Internet gaming, pensions, and liquor are the big issues on our plate,” Ward told PokerNews in an interview. “iGaming hasn’t been there in the past, but now that this looks like it could be a source of income, it will probably become a prominent part of the discussion.”

In June, State Senators Edwin Erickson and Bob Mensch introduced SB 1386, a bill that focuses on the regulation of online poker, but uses language that leaves consideration for “any game.” If passed, casinos would pay a $5 million fee along with 14% of their gross gaming revenue in tax. Unlike in Nevada and New Jersey, casinos would be required to operate under their own brand, not under the name of a software partner.

Parx houses over 3,000 slot machines and 150 table games that generated $478 million in revenue in the 12 months up to June. The casino hopes to launch GameAccount’s GameSTACK Internet Gaming System by the end of the fourth quarter of 2014.

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