Spin Cycle: World Series-Worldwide Leader Reunion 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 …

ESPN’s back in the WSOP business

When the World Series of Poker released its 2026 schedule in February, two key pieces of information were missing: the Main Event final table date and the network that would air it. The WSOP provided both of those answers as part of a major announcement Thursday.

For the first time since 2020, ESPN will be the TV home of the World Series — a resumption of a partnership that ran from 1988 until CBS took over in 2021.

And after the final nine players are determined on July 13, play will pause until Aug. 3, the first of three consecutive nights of final table coverage on linear ESPN. The WSOP is referring to this as a “cliffhanger” break. (The old nomenclature, “November Nine,” doesn’t quite work when the action resumes in August.)

The earlier days of the tournament will air on “ESPN platforms,” according to the release, which implies primarily online/streaming coverage. During the 20-day break leading up to the final table, “ESPN will air specially curated prime-time episodes to build momentum and introduce the final table competitors to a global audience.” So, we can expect a return to something resembling the carefully edited episodes of the poker-boom era.

Omaha Productions, the team behind the “ManningCast” alternate NFL broadcasts, will produce the shows. This is the start of a new multi-year agreement between the WSOP and ESPN.

Vegas one step closer to getting an NBA team

It’s increasingly looking like a layup. As expected, the NBA’s board of governors approved a measure Wednesday to explore a bid to bring an expansion franchise to Las Vegas, with all 30 team owners reportedly voting in favor. The owners also gave approval to explore a bid for Seattle to get a new NBA team.

There’s still a long way to go in the process, but if nothing arises to derail the bid, Vegas is likely to have an NBA team by the 2028-29 season.

If and when it happens, Las Vegas, which had no franchises in any of the four major sports leagues before 2017, will have teams in all four, provided the MLB’s Athletics complete their planned move to a ballpark on the Strip.

Already, there’s much discussion of what to call the new basketball team. Here’s a sampling of some decent ideas and several atrocious suggestions:

If we may add a few additional unserious ideas to the pile, so far we haven’t seen anyone suggest the Las Vegas Hidden Fees, the Las Vegas Hangovers, or the Las Vegas Tilt.

Illinois bill to ban credit card funding advances

An Illinois bill that would crack down on the use of credit cards for gambling was unanimously voted out of the Gaming Committee Wednesday and sent to the House floor.

HB 4149 would make it illegal to use a credit card for a cash advance at an ATM in a casino or to fund any kind of gambling account. The bill would also ban the purchase of lottery tickets with credit cards. Much of the discussion ahead of the vote centered on whether or not credit cards could be used for other purposes, such as to buy a meal or show ticket, in a casino. Bill sponsor Rep. Curtis J. Tarver II told his colleagues that the proposal closes a loophole in the existing statute, does not change current gambling laws, and would still allow for non-gambling credit-card purchases in casinos.

In addition, the committee advanced an amended version of HB 4885, which would clean up language in the current statute to make it clear that Statute of Anne language does not apply to daily fantasy sports contests. Statute of Anne — or loss recovery — acts allow third parties to sue for gambling losses. The proposal would raise the minimum lost before a complaint could be filed from $50 to $5,000, and would only allow the person suffering the loss to sue.

Illinois’ state legislature is set to adjourn May 31, and the crossover deadline is April 17.

— Jill Dorson

David Sklansky, 1947-2026

One of the poker world’s most influential strategic minds, New Jersey native David “The Mathematician” Sklansky, died of heart failure in his adopted home of Las Vegas on Monday at age 78.

Though Sklansky won three World Series of Poker bracelets — two in 1982 and one in ’83 — he is far better known for his writing about poker than for his playing of the game. Sklansky authored or co-authored 18 gambling books, most notably 1978’s The Theory of Poker, a game-changer in terms of introducing the general public to basic and advanced strategies.

During the poker boom era in the early 2000s, Sklansky’s name recognition got him invited to his share of made-for-TV poker competitions. His career tournament winnings totaled over $1.4 million, though over the past decade he was no longer a fixture on the tournament circuit.

For all his accomplishments, Sklansky was also a controversial figure. In 2008, he posted comments that some believe contributed to the suicide of poker player Brandi Hawbaker. And just two months ago, he was arrested for domestic battery, though no formal charges were filed.

House Rules: Insights from around our network

REP ROARING: Rep. Dina Titus: ‘I don’t apologize for being an advocate for gaming’ [by David McKee]

WILD PITCH: DraftKings launches DK Replay, a historical baseball product [by Jeff Edelstein]

DEAL US OUT: Bet365 latest major gambling operator to exit AGA [by Jill R. Dorson]

MAYBE NEXT YEAR: Maryland senator withdraws online casino bill [by Chris Altruda]

FAIRFAX FORWARD: A casino in Tysons, Virginia, is closer to reality [by Jeff Edelstein]

RADAR LOVE: Sportradar launches Playradar to enter iGaming vertical [by Chris Altruda]

GRAB YOUR POPCORN: Lottery win at center of upcoming thriller-comedy movie titled, simply, ‘The Lottery’ [by Eric Raskin]

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Good blackjack, minor-league hockey, and rain: A gambling trip to the Pacific Northwest [by Mitch Malherbe]

PAY THE PIPER: BetMGM hit with $100,000 fine in Pennsylvania [by Jeff Edelstein]

FINE PEOPLE ON BOTH SIDES: PBS examination of sports betting provides balance in face of tilted framing [by Eric Raskin]

SHOULDER SHRUGS: No one is more blasé about gambling than Americans, according to Pew study [by Jeff Edelstein]

SEEING THE SITES: Untangling the regulators’ web [by Richard Schuetz]

SIN AND SPIN: Study: Media bias in gambling is real [by Jeff Edelstein]

APRIL SHOWERS BRING MAY FLOWERS: Truist analysts optimistic about Q2 in Vegas, at least on higher end [by Eric Raskin]

Small stakes and hot takes

This week on the Casino Reports podcast Low Rollers, I welcomed Underdog Vice President of Responsible Gaming Adam Warrington for a conversation covering tech advances in RG, safer-gambling tool adoption, where responsible drinking and responsible gambling do and don’t overlap, his expectations for his Chicago Bears next season, and more.

I also analyzed the state of legal iCasino expansion and the chances of Virginia taking the next step in 2027, plus I offered a spoiler-phobic Survivor fan’s perspective on insider info running wild at prediction markets.

Full episode:

The Shuffle: Other news and views

HELLO, CADENCE CROSSING: Boyd Gaming opens its first Las Vegas casino in nearly 20 years [CDC Gaming]

WE’RE REDIRECTING YOUR CALL: Documents show Florida problem-gambling hotline funds flow from nonprofit to for-profit company [FOX 29 WFLX]

PAINFUL CUTS: This Nevada company is laying off 700 workers worldwide [Las Vegas Review-Journal]

NOT IN KANSAS ANYMORE: Push grows to ban smoking in Kansas casinos under new legislation [KMBC 9]

NEIGHBORS STAYING NORTH: Camels, casinos — and the missing crowd of Canadian tourists who’ve got the hump with Trump [The National]

HHR DEBATE GOES ON: Panel considers possible expansion of slot machines [Maryland Matters]

BONUS OR BOGUS?: Las Vegas casinos tout rewards cards, but players question their value [News3LV]

COULD BE IN THE CARDS: Bingo at Bally’s? RI lawmakers propose bringing popular game to casinos [WPRI 12]

SIGNING OFF: FanDuel TV to be phased out; over 100 jobs will be eliminated [Paulick Report]

The Bonus Round

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

• A quick follow-up to last week’s Spin Cycle item on the troubles at The Lodge Card Club in Texas: On Tuesday, employees were informed they’d been laid off, with co-owner Jason Levin telling them in an email that the poker room will “need to shut its doors for the foreseeable future.” This comes in the wake of a raid and allegations of money laundering and illegal gambling at the club.

• Heckuva win at a Mississippi Stud table at Harrah’s Las Vegas on Sunday, when a player who’d been dealt the ace and jack of diamonds saw the community cards roll out king, queen, and ten of diamonds. The royal flush paid a little over $1.12 million, thanks to a progressive jackpot.

• An upcoming book to keep an eye out for: Poker pro Garrett Adelstein, perhaps best known for being on the losing end of Robbi Jade Lew’s controversial jack-high call on a livestreamed Hustler Casino cash game in 2022, has announced a memoir, Beneath the Cards, coming Sept. 1. The hand against Lew will be explored in depth in the book.