Spin Cycle: Sweeps Getting The Hawkeye Hatchet Highlights Week In Gambling

Welcome to “Spin Cycle,” Casino Reports’ weekly Friday roundup of all things impactful, intriguing, impressive, or idiotic in the gambling industry. Pull up a chair, grab a stack of chips and a glass of your beverage of choice, and take a spin with us through this week’s news cycle …

If you ban it, they won’t come

Yes, that mini-headline to this item is a reference to Field of Dreams, because … well, what else is there to reference when covering news related to Iowa?

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds put her signature on SF 2289 last Friday, making her state the latest to, more or less, ban sweepstakes gaming operations. It doesn’t directly outlaw online casinos using sweeps-style prizing, but what it is does is give the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission the power to issue cease-and-desist letters and it generally strengthens the state’s enforcement abilities.

Sweeps operators aren’t the only ones targeted in the legislation; it also enables enforcement action against unlicensed sports betting and fantasy sports sites.

SF 2289 passed unanimously in both the House and Senate before Reynolds signed it, and it will go into effect July 1.

And with that, Iowa becomes the fourth state in 2026 to take legislative action against sweeps operators, joining Indiana, Maine, and Oklahoma. The latter just a week ago saw its legislature override Gov. Kevin Stitt’s veto and make sweepstakes gaming illegal.

More news to know … 

• Is Bally’s Intralot acquiring Evoke, the parent company of William Hill? Maybe. But not just yet. The deadline for a formal offer was supposed to be this past Monday, but Evoke extended it, and now Bally’s has until 5 p.m. London time on June 8 to make the bid. In the meantime, Evoke wrote in a release Monday, “Constructive discussions are continuing between the parties in relation to the Proposal, which is expected to comprise an all-share combination with a partial cash alternative.”

• This one is coming out of left field (baseball pun mostly intended), as a debate ahead of a Houston runoff election included a discussion of turning the Astrodome — which has been closed to the public since 2009 — into a massive casino. Texas, of course, does not currently permit casino gaming. But … “Frankly, if we had casino gambling in Texas, if you guys could get rid of [Lt. Gov.] Dan Patrick, we could solve this problem really quickly,” said former Houston Mayor Annise Parker during the debate. “Tilman Fertitta would put the world’s biggest casino in there in a heartbeat, and then we could save the Astrodome and not worry about it.”

• This fall’s Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas will feature the return of the G2E Dealer Championship, which debuted at the 2025 edition of the conference. Once again, entrants will deal blackjack and roulette across a multi-day competition with a series of elimination rounds, with cash prizes awarded to the top three finishers. G2E is currently accepting nominations from employers.

• The launch of legal online casino and sports betting in Alberta is fast approaching — July 13 is the date — and this week, the Alberta iGaming Corporation named interim CEO Dan Keene to the permanent position leading the organization. “Dan brings deep operational experience and a strong track record in gaming and market development,” board Chair Sanjeev Kad said in a statement.

• Win of the week: At MGM National Harbor in Maryland on Monday, a man named Michael (surname not disclosed) hit a seven-card straight flush at a Pai Gow Poker table, good for a $2.669 million payday. Michael held 3-4-5-6-7-8-9, all clubs. The odds of being dealt a seven-card straight flush? About 1 in 4.2 million.

House Rules: Insights from around our network

NYC Casinos’ Bumpy Start: Underperformance At Resorts World, Delays At Metropolitan Park

Pennsylvania’s Online Casinos Claimed Nearly 8% Increase In April Revenue

Went To A Sports Betting Hearing And A Prediction Market Fight Broke Out

Attorneys Dicker As David Vs. Goliath Casino Contest Case Set To Start In New Jersey

Michigan Online Casinos Score Third-Best Month Ever In April, Up 22.3% Over 2025

California Cardrooms Get Preliminary Injunction Against New Regulations

Small stakes and hot takes

This week on the Casino Reports podcast Low Rollers, I welcomed longtime World Series of Poker broadcaster Norman Chad ahead of next week’s start of the annual poker festival. We discussed the WSOP’s return to ESPN and this year’s final table delay, the continuing growth of the game, and whether the Main Event entry record will be broken this summer. Plus, I forced Norman to predict who will win the championship bracelet and I almost forced him to rank his ex-wives.

I also offered my analysis and recommendations following reports of the Mega Millions $5 price point proving a revenue turkey thus far, and I spewed with great passion about Kalshi providing Survivor spoilers and about the absurdity of playing online double-zero roulette.

Full episode:

The Shuffle: Other news and views

Fertitta’s Pursuit Of Caesars May Spur Wave Of Casino Sales, JPMorgan Says [Bloomberg]

Fairmount Park Adds Live Table Games In $3M Expansion, Bringing 35 Jobs To Metro East Racino [St. Louis Business Journal]

Police Seize $91,000 From Illegal Gambling Game At Pittsburgh-Area Social Club [CBS News]

‘Cash Drain’: Can Primm Be Revived? [Las Vegas Review-Journal]

Skill Games, Sports Betting Interests Are Spending Millions Competing Over 3 GOP State Senate Primaries [Spotlight PA]

Red Hawk Resort + Casino Announces Plans For Property Enhancements, Plans To Go Non-Smoking [CDC Gaming]

Catawba Two Kings Casino Opens First Phase Of $1B Resort Project In Kings Mountain [WCNC Charlotte]

Playtech Reports ‘Excellent Start’ To 2026, With Continued Americas Momentum [iGaming Business]

City Approves Bond For Hard Rock Casino Expansion, Including Hotel [WREX 13]

The Bonus Round

Completing the Spin Cycle with a few of our favorite social media posts of the week: