Spin Cycle: Evolution Vs. Playtech, Mr. Big Pot Highlight 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 …

Smear intensity: Evolution vs. Playtech

Back in 2021, a report was sent to the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement alleging potential violations by gaming technology company Evolution, claiming the Swedish company operated in multiple markets in which gambling was banned.

This Tuesday, Evolution announced who was behind that report: rival gaming supplier Playtech, which Evolution says hired private intelligence agency Black Cube to dig up the dirt. (Dirt that Evolution claims is “fabricated.”)

Playtech issued a response, not denying that it financed the report, but standing by the findings of the report, denying that this was a “smear campaign,” as Evolution termed it. Shares of Playtech dropped more than 20% in the immediate aftermath of Evolution’s announcement.

More twists and turns to come, assuredly, as this is turning into a full-blown feud between gaming companies.

In the meantime, Evolution made separate news Thursday on its third-quarter earnings call when CEO Martin Carlesund said the company would continue to work with sweepstakes gaming sites, but only “in states where it’s not prohibited or in any way under regulatory scrutiny.”

So, about those Chauncey Billups poker games …

In case you’ve been living under Mitch Richmond (a former NBA player nicknamed “The Rock,” just in case that attempt at a joke needed explaining), the FBI handed out all sorts of gambling-related indictments Thursday, most notably a sports betting scandal with NBA player Terry Rozier as the headliner, and a poker scandal starring NBA coach Chauncey “Mr. Big Shot” Billups.

Fun little twist on the poker allegations, though: It came out later Thursday that poker pro Matt Berkey was talking on podcasts two years ago about a shady private game “built around Chauncey Billups,” explaining that the game took place in 2019:

The FBI press conference sure did feature a lot of self-congratulations and back-patting for busting up something that they could have pounced on much earlier if they’d been listening to the right podcasts.

Churchill Downs CEO eyes electronic table games

Electronic table games at Churchill Downs are an “important frontier,” according to the racetrack company’s CEO.

During a third-quarter earnings call Thursday, CEO Bill Carstanjen said that using historical racing data to offer a version of table games would be an “opportunity,” but added that it was “a technology journey, and it’s also a regulatory journey.”

Currently, Churchill Downs offers slot-like historical horse racing (HHR) machines.

The business also revealed it is building a new stand at its iconic Kentucky racetrack, after reporting a $38 million third-quarter profit.

Meanwhile, in other Q3 earnings call news this week, Boyd Gaming handed $175 million back to shareholders after the sale of its stake in FanDuel ensured the business made a record quarterly profit of $1.4 billion. Excluding proceeds from the sale, profit was $65 million.

— Daniel O’Boyle

New iGaming king at DraftKings

Not that anyone doubted DraftKings was making online casino a priority, but if we needed proof: Former bet365 CEO and Head of Gaming Christian H. A. Bogstrand announced in a LinkedIn post over the weekend that he has joined the team at DK as executive vice president and general manager of iGaming.

“From the fantastic teams to a strong in-house technology foundation and a company-wide focus on delivering best-in-class player experiences, this is a unique opportunity to contribute to a business that’s scaling with purpose,” the London-based Bogstrand wrote. “It’s also a place where I believe I can thrive and continue growing.
 
“When I first connected with DraftKings, I met a group of founders and leaders who were welcoming, focused, and deeply motivated to keep raising the bar. That energy and sense of purpose made the decision to come on board easy.”

House Rules: Insights from around our network

ON THE FLY: NJ man claims BetMGM changed rules in middle of promotion [by Jill R. Dorson]

PUCKS AND BUCKS: Kalshi and Polymarket partner with NHL in first major league-prediction market deal [by Daniel O’Boyle]

THE RICH GET RICHER: How big was Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s $1.4 million win, really? We did the math [by Jeff Edelstein]

NOSE FOR NEWS: Dana Resnick Gentry gets to the bottom of what’s going on in Vegas [by Richard Schuetz]

NEW JERSEY HAS NUMBERS: New Jersey September iGaming revenue among top five ever — but hints at growth finally slowing [by Chris Altruda]

PENNSYLVANIA HAS NUMBERS, TOO: Pennsylvania iGaming AGR totals $233M for September, second most ever [by Chris Altruda]

AND DON’T FORGET ABOUT MICHIGAN: BetRivers its $20 million in Michigan for September [by Chris Altruda]

FEELING THE TWEET: Terry Rozier, Chauncey Billups, and Tony Soprano walk into a bar … [by Jeff Edelstein]

HEAD VS. HEART: California tribes definitely have federal judge on their side, but eventual ruling will be legal, not moral [by Jill R. Dorson]

BIRD IN THE HAND: DraftKings buys CFTC-registered prediction market Railbird, signaling entry into event contract space [by Daniel O’Boyle]

WHAT COULD’VE BEEN: From Beyoncé and baccarat to Kevin James and the Belt Parkway [by Jeff Edelstein]

Small stakes and hot takes

This week on the Casino Reports podcast Low Rollers, I welcome Captain Jack Andrews, a longtime professional gambler and a co-founder of Unabated, for a conversation reflecting on the short-term impacts, long-term impacts, and unintended impacts of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act a nice, round 19 years later. Here’s a taste:

I also explain why the NAAiG “push poll” on Maryland iGaming is something the whole world needs to ignore, and I hand out a four-leg Sports Equinox parlay that the world should probably also ignore. Full episode:

The Shuffle: Other news and views

DON’T TELL JORDAN: City pursuing the idea of installing slot machines at O’Hare and Midway airports, Council members told [Chicago Sun-Times]

MOHEGAN SUNSET: Mohegan CEO to step down at years end [NBC Connecticut]

NO GO, OHIO: Legal internet gambling in Ohio? Unlikely anytime soon [Statehouse News Bureau]

TIMING IS EVERYTHING: Early Labor Day helped casinos’ August, not September [CDC Gaming]

STEAL MY SUNSHINE: As Central City considers plan for casino hotel tower, neighbors worry: ‘They’re trying to take away my sunshine’ [Denver Post]

GiG IS UP: GiG Software aims to up US profile with OTCQX exchange listing [SBC Americas]

SWEET ON SKILL: Hershey rally supports skill games amid proposed legislation [WGAL 8]

TECH TREACHERY: Off-Strip casino-hotel hit by cyberattack [Las Vegas Review-Journal]

The Bonus Round

Completing the Spin Cycle with some odds and ends and our favorite social media posts of the week.

• LinkedIn posts don’t embed on this website all pretty like X posts and BlueSky posts do, so here’s a link to a LinkedIn post from Alun Bowden of Eilers & Krejcik Gaming about the top crypto casino sites and the countries where they have the most traffic.

• Deadline ran a piece this week on Colin Farrell and his new Macau-set Netflix gambling movie Ballad of a Small Player, in which Farrell notes that the casino scenes were shot in a real casino, not on a sound stage: “Everyone was wrecked by the end of the film,” Farrell said, “because we had a lot of filming to do and a lot of shots to get in a very small space of time in an environment that isn’t particularly film friendly, because we were shooting on live casino floors.” 

• Another week, another batch of cease-and-desists from the Michigan Gaming Control Board. In the crosshairs this time, as announced Friday morning: Aussie Play, CryptoGames, FortuneJack, Hugewin Casino, My Stake Casino, Play at Harry’s Casino, RuneChat, and Slots Garden. (At some point, they’re going to run out of offshore casinos to go after, right? Right??)