Spin Cycle: NCPG Makes A Move, GFLB On The Move 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 …

Maurer new head of NCPG

The National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) was closing in on a full year without a full-fledged executive director since Keith Whyte’s never-quite-properly-explained exit in January, but it will have one beginning Jan. 7, 2026, the organization announced Thursday.

Heather L. Maurer, most recently the CEO of the National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health, will be the next executive director, bringing “more than 25 years of leadership experience in the fields of public health, policy, and nonprofit management” according to the NCPG release.

“I’m honored to join NCPG and build on its strong legacy of leadership in addressing gambling-related harm,” Maurer said in the release. “I look forward to working alongside NCPG’s dedicated team, Board of Directors, members, and partners to expand awareness, strengthen prevention and treatment systems, and ensure that problem gambling is fully recognized within the public health framework.”

In recent weeks, the NCPG has been in the news as part of an ongoing dispute over control of the 1-800-GAMBLER helpline.

NY Gaming Floor Location Board hits the road

The New York State Gaming Commission announced Thursday its Gaming Floor Location Board (GFLB) will make site visits to all three downstate casino license finalists Monday as part of its decision-making process.

The agency said in an email the “purpose of each visit is for the Board to obtain an understanding of the physical location and, if necessary, seek clarification regarding the transportation, parking, infrastructure, and layout of each proposal.”

The group will start at the Bally’s Bronx proposal in Ferry Point, then make its way to Flushing to review the site of the Metropolitan Park proposal. It will conclude its three-stop tour at Ozone Park, home to Resorts World. The group appears to be allotting between 90 minutes and two hours for each location as the listed start times are 10 a.m., noon, and 2:15 p.m.

The GFLB is expected to announce its decisions on potential licensees by Dec. 1, and could award up to three licenses worth at least $500 million each. There were originally eight applicants, of which four were forwarded to the board by their local Community Advisory Committees. MGM Yonkers shockingly withdrew its bid for the full casino license last month. 

— Chris Altruda

Taking the ‘W’ and the ‘V’ out of ‘VGW’

Sweepstakes gaming giant VGW, which operates such sites as Chumba Casino, LuckyLand Slots, and Global Poker, has been exiting states one by one throughout 2025 due to cease-and-desist orders or legal concerns, and this Tuesday, West Virginia joined that list.

Players in the Mountaineer State can still enjoy the free-to-play games for “Gold Coins,” but “Sweeps Coins” — the ones that can be redeemed for real money — are no longer available in the state.

West Virginia is one of seven states in the nation that have legalized online casino play — and it marks the fifth of those seven states that VGW has pulled out of.

This development comes not long after the beginning of an effort by the Social Gaming Leadership Alliance (SGLA) to rebrand sweepstakes gaming as “Social Plus,” a move intended in part to reverse the momentum toward banning the vertical.

House Rules: Insights from around our network

THE WRITE STUFF: David McKee, a true hero in gaming journalism [by Richard Schuetz]

ROCKIN ROBINS: Jason Robins: Prediction markets are a gamble, iCasino on upswing, and more [by Jeff Edelstein]

THROWING IT ALL AWAY: Down and dirty: prosecutors allege intentional, egregious conduct in Clase and Ortiz indictments [by Jill R. Dorson]

ROAD TRIP!: Northern exposure: One long weekend, three states, 13 casinos [by Mitch Malherbe]

STATUS QUO FOR NOW: Pennsylvania budget proposal doesn’t include gambling tax increases [by Jill R. Dorson]

BOLD PREDICTION: What’s stopping prediction markets from becoming online casinos? Absolutely nothing, says Penn CEO Jay Snowden [by Jeff Edelstein]

DOWNWARD ‘DUEL: Flutter’s shares plunge as market digests financial, license costs of FanDuel predictions launch [by Daniel O’Boyle]

VERDICT IS IN: Jury holds two skill game manufacturers liable in Pennsylvania murder case [by Ella Gorodetzky]

NOT FOR PROPHET: ProphetX pivoting from sweepstakes to prediction markets [by Jeff Edelstein]

TAKE A HIKE: Read my lips: No new taxes (on certain types of gambling) [by Eric Raskin]

Small stakes and hot takes

This week on the Casino Reports podcast Low Rollers, I welcome a longtime friend and industry colleague, Las Vegas Advisor publisher and Blackjack Hall of Famer Anthony Curtis, for a conversation covering the state of the Las Vegas economy, tales of price gouging, tips and tricks for doing Vegas affordably, the Blackjack Ball, and what Anthony might have done with his life if he’d never discovered card counting. Here’s a taste:

I also try to wrap my head around the present pace of the gambling news cycle, and I offer reflections on the upside of an occasional break from opening up your sportsbook, iCasino, and online poker apps. Full episode:

The Shuffle: Other news and views

POLITICIAN’S NEW POST: Former Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval new chairman of Resorts World Las Vegas board of directors [CDC Gaming]

OPENING ACT: Hard Rock Casino Tejon opens, marking historic moment for Tejon Indian Tribe [Bakersfield Now]

CLOSING ACT: Sam’s Town Casino permanently closes Sunday night [WREG.com]

PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS: How will casinos handle the decommission of pennies? [Las Vegas Review-Journal]

BOARDWALK EMPIRE: Democrat bill would extend state takeover of Atlantic City for 5 years, half Polistina’s plan [Press of Atlantic City]

STATE OF THE UNION: Rivers Casino Portsmouth workers make history with Virginia’s first-ever union contract [13 News Now]

DIGITAL DILEMMA: As cashless gaming spreads, how are Nevada regulators making sure it’s safe? [The Nevada Independent]

STEPPING UP: Tribal casinos are holding food drives to address hunger during government shutdown, holiday season [CDC Gaming]

LONE STAR LAMENT: Pro-gambling interests struggling to gain foothold in Texas after Senate special election loss [The Texas Tribune]

THE TABLES MAY TURN: This casino is the only one in Pennsylvania that doesn’t have traditional table games — that could change soon [Penn Live]

The Bonus Round

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

• I haven’t yet watched the Netflix gambling movie Ballad of a Small Player starring Colin Farrell, but I do see it has a 5.8 out of 10 rating from users on IMDb, a 48% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, and a matching 48% from audiences on the same site. So … yeah, not pushing this one to the top of my weekend queue.

• A potentially notable new gaming-related bill has been filed in New Jersey, Bill A6009, although details are too scant at this time to devote more than two sentences to it. All we know is the bill, sponsored by Essex County Republican Assemblyman Al Barlas, “Prohibits online advertisements for casino gaming and sports wagering on platforms intended for children.”

• A quick flurry of one-sentence poker news nuggets: Poker pro Jordan Cristos was sentenced last week in Las Vegas to jail time (exact length not yet determined) for threatening both a judge and World Poker Tour CEO Adam Pliska; a recent “Poker Battle” between AI bots saw OpenAI’s bot come out on top and Elon Musk’s Grok finish third; and a race horse belonging to early-poker-boom-era pro and noted trash talker Tony Guoga (a.k.a. “Tony G”), named Half Yours, won the Melbourne Cup in Australia, good for an A$4.5 million prize.

• Let’s finish this week with an entertaining blackjack video (although not exactly an advertisement for responsible gambling):