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Diversification plans The landscape of the Las Vegas Strip will continue to change, as MGM Resorts International has said it is looking to sell The Mirage. During the company’s quarterly conference call on Wednesday, CEO Bill Hornbuckle said that the company feels it has enough exposure on The Strip. “As such, we are currently in… Read more »
We have all been there. That 24-hour marathon study session in college, the all-night bachelor party, the sleepover when we were kids where we refused to actually sleep (though most of us probably gave up at about 11:00pm). But 124 hours straight with no sleep? That’s beyond most people’s physical capabilities. But not only did… Read more »
Former Australian online sportsbook BetEasy certainly lived up to its name, but not in a good way. The site, now part of Sportsbet, was fined by the Northern Territory Racing Commission for allowing a self-excluded problem gambler to not just create an account, but lose over half a million dollars. The case is a few… Read more »
Couldn’t see eye to eye DraftKings’ pursuit of Entain is over. On Tuesday, the sports betting and daily fantasy sports leader said it has ended talks with Entain about acquiring the partypoker parent company. Neither company gave specifics as to way no deal could be agreed upon. According to UK law (Entain is headquartered in… Read more »
Cheap eats Here’s something different. UK gambling giant William Hill is under attack in some circles for serving food at some of its retail betting shops. And not just any food: inexpensive, HOT food. The humanity. The “WH Café” is currently in a test run at five of its outlets, less than half a percent… Read more »
Many years ago, on a break from college, I took a drive with my best friend from our hometown of Milwaukee to Kenosha, Wisconsin and Dairyland Greyhound Park. There was a violent thunderstorm on the way down there – we couldn’t see a thing, lightning was blind us, and my friend told me he was… Read more »
Spent money that wasn’t theirs The Football Index scandal was bad. It was a disaster for thousands of the site’s users, but there was still some question when all was said and done as to whether or not management was incompetent or unethical. Signs leaned toward the latter, but what The Athletic recently uncovered tilts… Read more »
Major League Soccer (MLS) announced on Friday that it has suspended Sporting Kansas City midfielder Felipe Hernandez for the rest of the season without pay for betting on MLS games. The league said that he “engaged in extensive and unlawful sports gambling” while he was on the team, gambling which included wagering on two MLS… Read more »
Strange end to the season The 2021 World Series of Poker is just two days away, but I want to talk about something else in the gambling world for a few minutes: Ghana professional soccer. That is not a sentence I ever thought I would write or say 20 years ago, but here we are.… Read more »
MGM Resorts International has announced that it has agreed to acquire the operations of The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas from Blackstone for $1.625 billion in cash. The deal is solely for the property’s operations, not the real estate itself. The purchase is part of a larger transaction in which Blackstone is selling the real estate… Read more »
Apparently that wasn’t DraftKings’ best offer Late Tuesday, after partypoker’s parent company Entain confirmed that DraftKings had put forth an offer to buy the UK-based gambling company, Entain pulled back the curtain further, revealing that it was already considering a second offer from DraftKings. The original offer, according to CNBC, was for $20 billion. Entain… Read more »
Just need all of them to win, no problem I have had a great sports year. My Milwaukee Bucks won their first NBA championship in my lifetime, my Milwaukee Brewers are on the cusp of a division title, and my college has won multiple team and individual national titles. My Green Bay Packers are one… Read more »
Plenty of sports betting options in Arizona Sports betting operators can start taking bets in Arizona on Thursday, September 9, after a judge ruled against a tribe that had filed an injunction to block the industry’s launch. On Monday, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge James Smith rejected most of Yavapai-Prescott Indian Tribe’s arguments. Arizona Governor… Read more »
Dotting i’s and crossing t’s UPDATE: The companies announced on September 9 that 888 Holdings is, in fact, buying William Hill’s non-US assets for £2.2 billion. 888 has already received support for the move from its largest shareholders, totaling 47% of the company’s shares, as well as from its Board of Directors. It expects the… Read more »
Facilitating bets between friends The Tennessee Education Lottery (TEL) has approved social sports betting site Wagr to begin offering its product in the Volunteer State. With the green-lighting of both Wagr and Barstool Sportsbook on Tuesday, Tennessee now has nine sports betting operators. Wagr is an interesting sportsbook, different than most traditional bookmakers. It is… Read more »
Most licenses taken already Arizona’s sports betting industry is set to launch on September 9, which is likely not coincidentally the first day of the NFL season. But injunctions filed by two entities have forced emergency hearings this coming Friday and threaten to delay sports wagering in the state. Before we take a brief look… Read more »
It is no secret that casinos happily offer free alcoholic beverages to gamblers (just be sure to tip your server!) so that they continue to gamble and continue to gamble poorly. A drunk casino patron is one thing, but what about a high one? It appears that two Native American tribes are going to test… Read more »
The visited lots of convenience stores In our latest tale of gambling-related crime, this writer’s first thought is: “I mean, you knew you were going to get caught eventually, right?” Over the span of eight years, Ali Jaafar, now 63, and his sons Mohamed Jaafar, 31, and Yousef Jaafar, 28, cashed in over 13,000 lottery… Read more »
Starting with its esports venue Former World Poker Tour owner Allied Esports Entertainment is reportedly considering getting out of esports altogether, a move which would include selling the HyperX Esports Arena at the Luxor in Las Vegas. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, this isn’t just a “well, anything is possible” situation, but rather a… Read more »
A new era in sports betting My friends north of the border, if you have been itching to put a few bucks down on a Blue Jays game or really want to degen it up and bet on the NFL preseason, your wait is just about over. Next Friday, August 27, sportsbooks in Canada will… Read more »
Get vaccinated or stay home On Monday, August 16, Harrah’s New Orleans casino becomes what is believed to be the first casino in the United States to require proof of COVID-19 vaccination or a negative test for entry. The decision comes not from casino operator Caesars Entertainment, but from the City of New Orleans itself.… Read more »
Consistency across the board Bally’s Corporation plans to rebrand almost all of its casinos with the Bally’s name within the next year. Continuing a branding push since acquiring the Bally’s brand, the company’s president and CEO explained in an investors conference call on Monday that the decision is about increasing brand awareness. “In the next… Read more »
Allegations of a sports capital offense The National Hockey League (NHL) said it will conduct a full investigation into comments on social media made by the wife of San Jose Sharks’ player Evander Kane regarding his gambling and alleged match fixing. Kane has vehemently denied all accusations. Over the weekend, Anna Kane posted a serious… Read more »
“Vital to our community’s continued healing” MGM Resorts International announced this week that it is donating two acres of land, part of the Las Vegas Village festival site, to be used as a memorial for the victims and survivors of the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting. The October 1 shooting was the deadliest mass shooting… Read more »
Predicting a Super Bowl rematch? NFL training camps are underway and with that comes the ramp-up to the 2021-2022 season, the first one in two years which should have fans in the seats at every game. The specter of COVID-19 still looms large, especially as the league recently threatened teams with forfeits should an unvaccinated… Read more »
