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Pandemic roller coaster The COVID-19 pandemic has obviously been devastating to casinos, but things are about to get worse for the few in Massachusetts. This week, Governor Charlie Baker announced a slew of “targeted measures” to slow the spread of the virus. The United States is in its “third wave” of the pandemic right now,… Read more »
MGM Growth Properties, a real estate investment trust (REIT), indicated on Monday that it could be interested in acquiring another property on the Las Vegas Strip. During a third quarter earnings call, CEO James Stewart said that his company was definitely looking to expand, but only with large casino properties that would “move the needle.”… Read more »
Forever dark According to a report from CardsChat, three MGM properties on the Strip – the Mirage, Excalibur, and Mandalay Bay – are closing their poker rooms for good. All of the card rooms have been closed since mid-March, when casinos in Nevada were ordered to shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Casinos were… Read more »
Welcome to Indiana Twin River Worldwide Holdings has made yet another move to expand its casino footprint, agreeing to acquire the Tropicana Evansville casino operations from Caesars Entertainment for $140 million. This will be Twin River’s first entry into Indiana. Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (GLPI) is also going along for the ride. While Twin… Read more »
Circa, the first casino built from the ground-up in downtown Las Vegas in forty years, officially opened just after midnight on Wednesday. From all first-hand reports at the invitation-only celebration, the new, glitzy gambling beacon is a glamorous venue that looks like it belongs on Strip. “I’m feeling great,” Circa owner Derek Stevens told the… Read more »
U.S. not a large part of Sands’ portfolio Sheldon Adelson might finally be bugging out of the United States. Well, from a business standpoint, at least. According to Bloomberg News, Adelson’s Las Vegas Sands Corp. is looking into selling its properties in Las Vegas, including the Venetian Resort, the Palazzo, and the Sands Expo Convention… Read more »
Neither side loses! The Big Ten’s college football season finally began this past weekend and with it came a controversial ending to the game between the eighth-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions and the Indiana Hoosiers. Because of how the game ended – Indiana won 36-35 — DraftKings Sportsbook decided to refund all bets on the… Read more »
In August, the Sahara Las Vegas filed a defamation lawsuit against a popular local blogger. On Tuesday, Judge Trevor Atkin dismissed suit, granting Scott Roeben’s special motion to dismiss, citing Nevada’s anti-SLAPP laws. Roeben, founder of VitalVegas.com, a resource I myself have used several times for articles on this site, tweeted that he was “elated,… Read more »
Any which way you slice it, they stink The New York Jets are easily the worst team in the National Football League. They’ve been crap for a while, but so far this year, they are one-upping (or one-downing?) themselves. Yet, according to ESPN, people are still placing bets on the Jets to win the Super… Read more »
Sports betting continues to be embraced by professional sports organizations. The latest evidence: for the first time, the PGA Tour will integrate betting odds in its telecasts. Starting Thursday during the broadcast of the CJ Cup @ Shadow Creek on the Golf Channel, BetMGM will provide betting odds for viewers. The telecast will display odds… Read more »
If you are planning on playing poker at Encore at Wynn Las Vegas starting next week, you will need to change course slightly and head next door to the Wynn. Wynn Las Vegas, the company that owns both casinos, announced on Tuesday that Encore is will only be a part-time property beginning Monday. Its poker… Read more »
Grabbing a solid name Twin River Worldwide Holdings announced on Wednesday that it has acquired the Bally’s brand from Caesars Entertainment for $20 million. It has not purchased any property from Caesars, just the brand name. Caesars still owns Bally’s Las Vegas Hotel & Casino, but will not have to rename it. As part of… Read more »
Just a few million, no biggie Per a report from ESPN, a DraftKings customer placed the bet of the decade, perhaps the century. Apparently extremely confident, this bettor placed a three-team futures parlay: the Green Bay Packers to take the NFC North, the Georgia Bulldogs to win the SEC East, and the Alabama Crimson Tide… Read more »
Almost all of the nearly 1,000 casinos in the United States have reopened and most of the world’s casinos have done so as well after months of lockdowns because of the COVID-19 pandemic. All major casinos, though, are still enforcing health and safety measures such as mandatory mask wearing, social distancing, severe capacity restrictions, and… Read more »
Episode 11 of the seventh season of Seinfeld was “The Rye.” While it also brought the fictional Beef-A-Reeno into our lexicon, its main plot revolved around the need to acquire a loaf of marble rye in order to avoid a potential lifetime of strife between George’s parents and his fiancée Susan’s parents. Jerry attempted to… Read more »
Legendary University of Nebraska football coach Tom Osborne had things to say about gambling on Monday and those things were not good. The College Football Hall of Fame inductee was on hand for a rally hosted by Gambling With the Good Life, an anti-gambling organization, to speak out against possible gambling expansion in Nebraska. Nebraska… Read more »
Betfred claims the software glitched A customer dispute with Betfred dating back to early 2018 will now go before a High Court judge in the UK for a summary judgement. The court appearance is expected to occur in October. The case involves a player named Andy Green, who was playing “Frankie Dettori’s Magic Seven Blackjack”… Read more »
The Fremont Hotel & Casino in downtown Las Vegas is in hot water with state regulators for a November 2019 incident in which security held a woman in custody for something it turned out she didn’t do. The Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) saw enough evidence of wrongdoing to file a four-count complaint against Fremont’s… Read more »
PM not fooling around On Tuesday, United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a slate of stricter rules in the country’s ongoing fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, including a 10:00pm curfew for pubs, restaurants, and “hospitality venues.” Included in the latter category are casinos. Johnson said he understood the issues this will cause, “But now… Read more »
Scammer asks for payment The Pennsylvania Lottery issued a warning to customers on Monday about a scam that has been popping up around the state. In it, a caller originating from Jamaica is targeting residents of the Commonwealth, try to garner payment in exchange for a pretend lottery prize. People who have reported the scam… Read more »
Throwing caution to the wind We are firmly in “OPEN FOR BUSINESS” mode in the United States because screw it, right? Gotta keep feeding that DOW JONES while we wish the COVID away. As part of the feeding of the capitalism machine, almost all of the nearly 1,000 casinos in the United States are open,… Read more »
Low risk, high reward Though the schedules and playing environments are certainly odd, sports in the United States are back up and running. It’s not normal for this to be the case, but because of season delays, all four major U.S. sports are in action: the NBA and NHL are in the playoffs, MLB is… Read more »
Casual betting down According to the American Gaming Association, over 33 million adults plan to bet on National Football League (NFL) games this season, down from 38 million last season. The 2020-2021 season begins Thursday, as the defending Super Bowl champs, the Kansas City Chiefs, square off against the Houston Texans. The survey of 2,200… Read more »
The wait is over After nearly six months, New York’s commercial casinos are finally going to reopen. Governor Andrew Cuomo announced last week that this Wednesday, September 9, is the date that the casino can welcome back customers. The are four “resort style,” large casinos in New York – Resorts World Catskills, del Lago, Rivers… Read more »
Costa Rica-based sportsbook 5Dimes will soon be taking its leave of the United States market. The sportsbook tweeted the official announcement on Tuesday, but customers were made aware on Sunday and Monday. 5Dimes is not licensed to operate in the U.S., but has accepted American customers for years. Customers will still be able to place… Read more »
