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No date has been set for Detroit’s three commercial casinos to reopen, but they now have a set of official health and safety protocols for when they finally do welcome back guests. On Monday, the Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) issued its minimum guidelines that MotorCity, MGM Grand, and Greektown casinos must follow in order… Read more »
The UK’s Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) has announced that casinos in England can reopen in a month, on July 4.* The country’s casinos have been closed to help slow the spread of the coronavirus since March 23. The government actually set July 4 as a target date last month for the third and final… Read more »
Meadows is cleared for takeoff The Meadows Racetrack & Casino will become the first of Pennsylvania’s dozen casinos to reopen during the coronavirus pandemic. The facility southwest of Pittsburgh plans to welcome its first guests in over two months on Tuesday, June 9. It is able to do so because it is in Washington County,… Read more »
Gambling, but with smaller crowds As many Las Vegas casinos ready themselves to reopen on Thursday, June 4, final preparations are underway to make sure the return of guests goes as smoothly as possible. On Monday, local news station KSNV got a tour of the Bellagio as one of the center pieces of the Strip… Read more »
$135,000 to charity The poker world is stepping for a good cause once again. On Thursday, May 28 at 8:00pm ET, the King’s Celebrity Poker Challenge on ClubWPT will premiere Twitch. Simulcast are multiple Twitch channels, including Budweiser and World Surf League, the two-hour special will feature six celebrities competing in a poker match to… Read more »
Long-awaited announcement has arrived Nevada locals and tourists yearning for a trip to Las Vegas can finally get excited. On Friday, Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak announced via a press release that “pending the evaluation of trends in Nevada’s COVID-19 data,” he will allow the state’s casinos to reopen on June 4. Casinos have been closed… Read more »
Casino jumped the gun A California casino was shut down by the governor for violating the state’s lockdown order just a day after it reopened. The Towers Casino in Grass Valley excitedly announced on its Facebook page that it was open on Monday after being closed for two months. Unfortunately for the casino, it was… Read more »
Governor believes tribes are jumping the gun As casinos around the United States are starting to reopen after two months of closure, California Governor Gavin Newsom wants to some Native American tribes to reconsider. On Friday, he asked the tribes that operate three casinos to think twice about getting back to business. Most tribal casinos… Read more »
As the decision to “reopen the economy” during the COVID-19 pandemic is up to state governments largely because of the lack of a plan on the federal level, different states are naturally doing different things. Wise or not (mostly not, probably), many states are trying to return to some semblance of “normalcy.” For some, regular… Read more »
The heist A man who robbed the home of the World Series of Poker in 2011 has been arrested by the FBI’s L.A. Fugitive Task Force. FBI Los Angeles tweeted the news on Monday, saying that Steven Gao is now awaiting extradition to Las Vegas. Gao was a problem gambler and owed his friend Edward… Read more »
King’s Resort, home of the World Series of Poker Europe, reopened its poker room on Monday. The 160-table poker room, the largest in Europe, was closed for nearly two months because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sister casinos Admiral Casino and King’s Prague also opened. In addition to poker, King’s Resort has also made casino games… Read more »
FSB Technology, a London-based gaming technology provider, got hit hard by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) on Wednesday. Citing “advertising, money laundering and social responsibility failings,” the UKGC fined FSB £600,000 and is requiring that company fundamentally changes its operations to meet the Commission’s regulations. It was found that between January 2017 and August 2019,… Read more »
“It’s a bold strategy, Cotton. Let’s see if it pays off for ‘em.” Pepper Brooks, Dodgeball (2004) In a report from the “this should go well” files, the Island Resort & Casino in Harris, Michigan announced on Friday that it will reopen this coming Wednesday, May 6. Shutdown order not a concern But wait, you… Read more »
A deal in an empty market Casinos around the United States may be closed and there might not be any prospects for any real sort of cash flow for the foreseeable future, but that doesn’t mean that gaming industry deals can’t still be made. Recently, Twin River Worldwide Holdings Inc. announced that it has agreed… Read more »
Though several states have begun to “reopen” in recent days, giving people who just absolutely cannot deal without a haircut the opportunity to have somebody else groom them, Nevada casinos are still shuttered because of the COVID-19 pandemic. And rightfully so. No state has even met the minimum requirements for the federal government’s “Phase 1,”… Read more »
The last couple months have been pretty bad, which is the understatement of this new decade. There are silver linings and rays of light in all this darkness, though. One such positive is the immense creativity that so many people have displayed in the ways they work, entertain, and just generally live while largely stuck… Read more »
The Tennessee Education Lottery (TEL) has officially begun the sports betting application process. Documentation potential operators need to apply for a license in the Volunteer State are posted on the Lottery’s website. The basics There are three categories of licenses: sports gaming operator, supplier, and vendor. The category that most of us will be paying… Read more »
Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (GLPI) announced on Monday that it has completed the acquisition of the Tropicana Las Vegas from Penn National Gaming. The deal was originally said to be worth $337.5 million, but the final tally is now $307.5 million. The two companies came to their agreement in March, shortly after Nevada Governor… Read more »
Virus spread quickly Eight retirees ranging from age 70s to mid-90s had been getting together for a home poker game at their condo in South Florida for years. Five days a week, they played a low-stakes game like many of us might, just having a blast spending time with friends. A month ago was their… Read more »
During the poker boom, online poker rooms scrambled to sign as many poker pros and celebrities as they could to endorsement deals. PokerStars was big with tournament players, having three consecutive World Series of Poker Main Event champs onboard at one point: Chris Moneymaker, Greg “Fossilman” Raymer, and Joe Hachem. Full Tilt Poker (remember Full… Read more »
Not home, but safe and comfortable Among all of the problems the COVID-19 pandemic has created, one of them is the quandary health care workers and first responders have been put in. They work so hard every day to save lives, but in turn risk the lives of their family members when they return home… Read more »
Dan Smith, fifth on the all-time poker tournament money list, announced on Monday that he has launched an initiative through his Double Up Drive organization to raise money for households in the Las Vegas area that are most at risk during the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, he has teamed up with Phil Galfond,… Read more »
Poker is a funny game, isn’t it? One minute, you can be down and out, not able to do anything right, and the next minute you can be flying high, hitting every card you need. Such has been the case for Phil Galfond in the first matchup of the Galfond Challenge. In February, he was… Read more »
This doesn’t exactly have anything to do with poker. Actually, it has nothing to do with poker. It doesn’t kind of relate to sports betting, so if we want to pretend this has something to do with gambling, there you are. But regardless, Wimbledon is cancelled. On Wednesday – and this was not an April… Read more »
Penn National Gaming announced that it has agreed to sell the Tropicana Las Vegas to Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (GLPI). The deal for the casino on the south end of the Strip is for $337.5 million. Interestingly, the $337.5 million will not be paid in cash, but rather in a “non-cash rent payment.” The… Read more »
