Spin Cycle: Record Tribal Revenue Highlights Week In Gambling
Plus: PA skill games, Fertitta approvals, rigged poker trial date, Vegas comes to Jersey
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 …
Good vibes for the tribes
The National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) published its fiscal year 2025 revenue report this week, and the headline news is that tribal total gross gaming revenue is at an all-time high, reaching $46.2 billion on the year, up 5.3% from the prior year.
Record setting is to be expected, though. From 2011 to present, every fiscal year but one has broken the previous record — the lone exception coming in COVID-impacted 2020.
The NIGC breaks tribal casinos into eight regions, and seven of the eight — all but the “Rapid City” region, which includes the Dakotas, Wyoming, and Montana — showed revenue growth. The “D.C.” region experienced the largest percentage growth, up 9.8% year-over-year. The “Sacramento” region, consisting of California and northern Nevada, is the top region on a pure dollar basis, with $12.6 billion in GGR, up 4.1% over fiscal year 2024.
More news to know …
- As expected, funding from the potential regulation and taxation of “skill games” was not included in Pennsylvania’s final 2026-27 budget that Gov. Josh Shapiro signed last week. The state Supreme Court ruled the games illegal in June, and Shapiro had previously spoken about taxing them at a 52% rate, but no such agreement was reached. So for now, the countdown is on to Oct. 13, when law enforcement may begin to seize the machines if no legislation legalizing the games passes by then.
- Fertitta Entertainment executives Richard Liem and Steven Scheinthal were both unanimously approved for licensing by the Nevada Gaming Commission on Thursday, in advance of the company’s planned acquisition of Caesars Entertainment. During the hearing, the topic of prediction markets arose, even though there’s no direct link to Fertitta or Caesars. Commissioner Brian Krolicki asked Scheinthal his opinion on prediction markets, and Scheinthal replied, “I believe ultimately the Supreme Court is going to say it is up to the states to decide and it is going to be up to each state to determine the operations within their state.”
- The U.S. Department of Justice submitted a letter Wednesday seeking to push back the “rigged poker” trial involving NBA Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups (and assorted less famous defendants) from Nov. 2 to sometime in early 2027. “The government … respectfully submits that a November 2 trial date is not practicable and that an adjournment of trial to early 2027 would be in the interests of justice,” reads the letter from U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. Attorneys for the various defendants were split on consenting to the request.
- There’s a new addition to the hyper-competitive New Jersey online casino market: Vegas Club Casino launched this week, through a market access partnership with Caesars Entertainment. The new iCasino was founded by Greg Carlin, former CEO and co-founder of Rush Street Gaming and Rush Street Interactive, and Dan Alexander, part of the team behind PlayStar in New Jersey. “Vegas Club Casino combines the timeless appeal of classic Las Vegas with the transparency and security of a fully regulated online casino,” Carlin said in a release. “We look forward to earning players’ loyalty through fair play and a fun, exciting experience.”
- The World Series of Poker isn’t quite over yet, but the annual high-stakes, high-profile $25K Fantasy League has been decided, and the winner is the team captained by Daniel “Kid Poker” Negreanu — the commissioner of the league. Negreanu drafted himself, Josh Arieh, Jason Koon, and others, and overcame a zero from Ben Lamb, who skipped this year’s WSOP entirely. “Team DNegs” wins $250,000 for first place out of 24 teams, while David Baker’s “Team Banana” finished in second place for $125,000. Third through fifth place cashed as well.
House Rules: Insights from around our network
Evolution Terminates $85 Million Acquisition Deal With Galaxy Gaming
Why I Bought A Book That ‘Failed’
The Evolution (Or Devolution) Of Edges
Michigan Online Casinos Top $300 Million In Revenue Again
Resorts World NYC Breaks Ground On Latest Expansion Ahead Of Schedule
Seven Simultaneous Tribal Casino Bomb Threats, And Nobody's Talking
Small stakes and hot takes
This week on the Casino Reports podcast Low Rollers, presented in partnership with DraftKings Casino, I welcomed my former co-host and Third Planet Media Senior Writer Jeff Edelstein for a conversation covering Fanatics Fest 2026, kids legally gambling with trading cards, his interview of Dave Portnoy on last week’s The Business of Betting podcast, unexplained iGaming bans, classic comedy movies, and how useful an AI replica of Jeff would be.
I also shared my quick thoughts on Powerball's arrival in the U.K., the Arizona Cardinals draft-pick leak allegations, and BetHog's pivot to a 100% focus on AI dealer, plus I lived to tell the tale of lazily betting a pre-made parlay.
Full episode:
The Shuffle: Other news and views
World Cup Impacts Las Vegas Sands’ Bottom Line In June [CDC Gaming]
Raynham Park 'Slot Machines' 'Existential Threat' To Taunton Casino [Taunton Daily Gazette]
Netflix’s Vegas Drama ‘The Roman’ Casts Vincent D’Onofrio, Kate Mara, Clancy Brown, Thomas Sadoski & Jason Schwartzman [Deadline]
How’s Business At Happy Valley Casino? Latest Financials Show Significant Decrease [Centre Daily Times]
Yggdrasil Enters US Gaming Market Through Caesars Entertainment Deal [SBC Americas]
Primm Casino, Once Feared To Be Gone For Good, Is Back After 17-Day Closure [The Nevada Independent]
See Inside Turning Stone’s New Hotel And Fine Dining Restaurant, Part Of $400 Million Expansion [Syracuse.com]
Heart-Shaped Hotel-Casino Project Approved For Las Vegas’ Failed Ferris-Wheel Site [Las Vegas Review-Journal]
Petersburg Casino Draws Visitors From Every US State In First 6 Months: 'Mind-Boggling' [WTVR 6 Richmond]
The Bonus Round
Completing the Spin Cycle with a few of our favorite social media posts of the week:
Eric has been a professional editor and writer for more than 25 years, including nearly 20 years of experience covering the gambling industry. He was editor-in-chief of the poker magazine All In from 2005-2015 and manag…
