Spin Cycle: Illinois Taking Self-Exclusion Seriously 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 …

Tapping the brakes

Before it changed its nickname to “The Prairie State,” Illinois was known in the 1800s as “The Sucker State.” (Not hard to understand why the change was made.)

In any case, the Illinois Gaming Board (IGB) is doing its part to reduce the number of suckers in the state, having approved plans last Friday — four days into the American Gaming Association’s Responsible Gaming Education Month — to expand and modernize the voluntary gambling self-exclusion program.

“Modernization and expansion of the SEP must keep pace with the evolution of Illinois gaming in a thoughtful and intentional manner,” said IGB Administrator Marcus D. Fruchter in a press release. “The IGB is committed to ensuring that the SEP continues to evolve, expands coverage, serves the needs of program participants, and best supports people in their treatment and recovery journeys without barriers and stigma.”

What will change? Gamblers who want to self-exclude will have more channels through which to do so, including online portals. Instead of any self-exclusion being required to last at least five years, consumers will be able to choose among a more flexible array of options, including six months, one year, three years, five years, or an indefinite period. And Illinois will create a “marketing exclusion list,” which prevents operators not only from sending promotional materials to self-excluded gamblers, but also blocks such activities for the first 12 months after a gambler’s exclusion period ends.

However, as, CBS News reported, the changes “could take years to fully implement.”

More news to know …

• Sad news in the poker world: Phil Hellmuth Sr., the father of 17-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth Jr., died Sunday after a long battle with cancer. The elder Hellmuth was not a poker player himself, but as Phil Jr. wrote on social media Tuesday, “He supported me by coming to the WSOP for 34 years straight!! He saw me win the 1989 Main Event, and that was something for him to come to Vegas for 6 days … Back then, most thought being a [pro poker player] was akin to being a drug dealer. But, he showed up for me in BIG way…”
• The Global Gaming Expo (G2E) on Wednesday announced its main stage lineup for the annual event in Vegas from Sept 28-Oct. 1, featuring two headline names: Hockey great Wayne Gretzky will join BetMGM CEO Adam Greenblatt on Tuesday, Sept. 29, for a conversation titled “Defining Greatness,” and the next day activist Elizabeth Smart will go one-on-one with Global Gaming Women’s Meghan Speranzo in a talk called “Identity Beyond the Headline: Power, Voice and Resilience at Work.”

• Unfortunate overseas news from bet365, which, despite an investment in U.S. expansion of late, confirmed plans this week to cut about 340 jobs in Europe — mostly in England. Tax increases in the U.K. were identified as the biggest reason for the layoffs. In the U.S., meanwhile, bet365 is now available for either sportsbook or iCasino in 19 jurisdictions.
• Fans of the Buffalo slot series from Aristocrat Gaming will be glad to learn a new game, Buffalo Super Rush, has arrived, and Graton Resort & Casino in California hosted its world premiere Wednesday night. “With Buffalo Super Rush, we are taking the entertainment to a new level,” Aristocrat Chief Revenue Officer Kurt Gissane said ahead of the ribbon cutting (below) and game debut.

House Rules: Insights from around our network

Sweepstakes Operator VGW Settles With New York For $8 Million

Adversarial Advertising: New DraftKings Spots Slinging Mud At Kalshi Signal Shifting Priorities

Responsible Gambling Education Must Start In The Classroom, Not The Casino

House Edge In New Xs & Os Game Daunting — But It’s All Relative

Ruddock Report: Online Casino Supporters Keep Making The Case For Legalization

Trial For Alleged Rigged Poker Games That Featured Chauncey Billups Delayed To Next March

Small stakes and hot takes

This week on the Casino Reports podcast Low Rollers, presented in partnership with DraftKings Casino, I welcomed casino consultant Drew Skeen to discuss what goes into turning around struggling land-based properties, the value of establishing industry connections over a long career, how close he came to starring in a “casino fixer” reality TV show, and more.

I also talked about the warnings of an extinction-level event caused by AI from a gambling perspective, and I handed out my longshot picks to represent the NFC and AFC in the Super Bowl — a combo that was priced at 155-to-1 when I bet it midweek and has already accrued value, dropping to a mere 150-to-1 as of Friday morning.

Full episode:

The Shuffle: Other news and views

25 Years Later, Las Vegas Still Feels The Impact Of 9/11 [Las Vegas Review-Journal]

Red Rock Casino Must Bargain With Workers After U.S. Supreme Court Denies Appeal [CDC Gaming]

Aldermen Blast Bally’s For Construction Halt, While Casino Says City Council Sparked Pause [Chicago Tribune]

Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa Unveils $107M Plans To Transform Borgata Tower [ROI-NJ]

Democratic Candidate For Ohio Governor Talks About Flock Cameras And Expanding Gambling [Statehouse News Bureau]

Opinion: The Line At Treasure Island Wasn't For $200, It Was For Hope [The Nevada Independent]

Iran War A Drag On Gaming Stocks, Analyst Says [CDC Gaming]

Royal Caribbean Plans To Add Non-Smoking Casino To Another Cruise Ship [Royal Caribbean Blog]

Springfield Sues MGM Casino Operators As Reports Emerge Of Potential Sale [WAMC.org]

Former Queens Senator Takes Job With Metropolitan Park [Queens Daily Eagle]

San Antonio Councilwoman Wants To Ban Casino-Like Eight-Liner Machines [San Antonio Report]

Playtech Highlights Evolution Compliance Failures As Spectrum Gaming Report Is Released [iGaming Business]

The Bonus Round

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