Spin Cycle: PokerStars Folding Into FanDuel, Sweeps Ban Bonanza 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 …

FanDuel players will soon be seeing ‘Stars

Two weeks ago, it was an “all signs point to” situation. This Wednesday, it became a “yes, this is officially happening” situation. PokerStars is being integrated with FanDuel Casino.

Both brands are owned by Flutter Inc., and contrary to the initial rumors, the PokerStars brand will not be disappearing. The old app and desktop client that will be tossed into the muck, but the PokerStars name will live on in what will now be known as “PokerStars Exclusively on FanDuel.”

The bigger news that comes with this is the merging of all existing PokerStars states into one player pool with shared liquidity. Players in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Michigan will now be able to compete against each other, meaning larger tournament prize pools and guarantees, more game availability, and less waiting around.

Ontario also has regulated PokerStars play, but players there will remain part of a separate pool, as the liquidity sharing is not going international. FanDuel Casino is operational in West Virginia and Connecticut, but PokerStars is not. (Yet.)

The timeline for the transition is uncertain, but Flutter announced that PokerStars Rewards will be discontinued next Friday, March 13, at which point any unopened rewards chests will be converted to cash. 

Flyover states are over sweeps

Every week in 2026 seems to be filled with news regarding sweepstakes gaming ban legislation, and this past week was no exception. Momentum to ban sweeps was particularly in vogue in the middle of the country, with the following developments:

• Ahead of the start of the Louisiana legislative session next Monday, Rep. Laurie Schlegel pre-filed HB 883, which would make gambling sites with a “dual-currency system of payment” illegal.
• The Oklahoma Senate advanced SB 1589 by a unanimous 48-0 vote Monday, sending the sweeps ban measure to the House, where the similar HB 4130 has passed unanimously through multiple committees.
• In Tennessee, the state Senate unanimously passed SB 2136 Monday, but a hearing on the House companion bill (HB 1885) that was also planned for this week has been pushed to next Tuesday.
• On the flip side, in a rare bright spot for sweeps operators, Mississippi’s sweepstakes gaming ban bill, SB 2104, went belly-up, as it couldn’t advance through the House Gaming Committee prior to Tuesday’s deadline for House committees to report bills that come out of the Senate.

Relatively minor collateral damage

Certainly, the impact on the gambling world is among the least important consequences of the war that American and Israeli airstrikes on Iran ramped up last weekend. But we are seeing some consequences — and not just in terms of controversies surrounding prediction markets.

Two planned poker events were removed from the schedule, at least for now.

The World Poker Tour’s $1,100 WPT Prime Cyprus Championship that was supposed to run this week is off, though the WPT hopes to reschedule it.

And Cardplayer Lifestyle’s Mixed Game Festival XIII that was mentioned in last week’s Spin Cycle and was due to begin March 8 is off because the event organizer, Robbie Strazynski, lives in Israel and was unable to fly to Las Vegas for the Resorts World festival.

There are also potential casino impacts to watch in the region, particularly regarding the massive Wynn and MGM projects under construction in the United Arab Emirates. As The Nevada Independent reported, Wynn spokesman Michael Weaver said the company was “closely monitoring the situation and [has] plans in place to secure the safety of our employees should the situation necessitate,” and MGM offered a similar statement.

Bally’s big Bronx purchase

Bally’s, which was selected as one of three New York downstate casino licensees by the state’s gaming commission, has purchased from the City of New York the 20-acre plot of land where it plans to build a $4 billion casino. The $157 million deal for the land at Ferry Point in the Bronx was closed Feb. 13 according to Crain’s Chicago Business.

Bally’s was originally a longshot for one of the three coveted $500 million licenses, requiring help from former New York City Mayor Eric Adams twice just to make sure its proposal was heard by the Bronx-based Community Advisory Committee.

Bally’s proposed a casino with 500,000 square feet of gaming space, a 500-room hotel, and a 2,000-seat arena adjacent to an 18-hole golf course once owned by Donald Trump’s real estate business. Bally’s acquired the rights to the course for $60 million, and agreed to pay the Trump Corporation an additional $115 million if it was able to obtain the casino license.

Bally’s is also currently constructing casinos in downtown Chicago and Las Vegas, with the target opening for the Chicago venue of the fourth quarter of this year in doubt due to construction and logistical delays.

— Chris Altruda

House Rules: Insights from around our network

FOLLOW THE MONEY: Online gambling operators at the head of the PAC [by David McKee]

WINTER WINNINGS: National January online casino revenue falls just shy of $1 billion [by Chris Altruda]

ONE-STOP SHOPPING: DraftKings’ ‘super app’ to add predictions, lottery to sportsbook, casino platform [by Brant James]

VERY SUPERSTITIOUS: Don’t say it’s over, don’t count your money, and for the love of God, no peanuts [by Jeff Edelstein]

LONG SHOT’S BET: Cohen continues bid to bring historical horse racing to Maryland [by Chris Altruda]

A PEER OVER THE WALL: ‘I don’t think the public has a clue’: Inside the world of market makers [by Jeff Edelstein]

HOG HEAVEN: Arkansas stays hot in Powerball, $251 million jackpot hit Monday night [by Eric Raskin]

PEARL OF WISDOM: Virginia’s iCasino bills repeat Michigan’s mistake — and leave revenue on the table [by Josh Pearl]

NOTHING NEW UNDER THE SUN: Onions, movies, elections, and the long road to sports prediction markets [by Richard Schuetz]

CANADIAN RAKIN’: Alberta aiming for ‘spring/summer’ launch as government projects $100+ million online gaming tax revenue [by Jill R. Dorson]

DEALER’S CHOICE: Prosecutors close to extending several plea deals in Chauncey Billups poker case [by Brant James]

BAD RAP: Latest Drake/Stake controversy only adds to online gambling trust issues [by Eric Raskin]

Small stakes and hot takes

This week on the Casino Reports podcast Low Rollers, I welcomed National Council on Problem Gambling Director of Public Affairs Cait Huble for a conversation about the 2026 Problem Gambling Awareness Month theme, what a problem gambling screening looks like, how to interpret spikes in gambling helpline call volume, and more.

I also added extra context to a recent InGame article about the near-disappearance of mainstream sports betting programming, and I distracted momentarily from all of the serious issues in the world by offering mini-reviews of the various TV shows I’m currently watching.

Full episode:

The Shuffle: Other news and views

BAY STATE BLUES: Clock ticking for online casino legislation in Massachusetts, opposed by public health leaders [New England Public Media]

CITY SUES SWEEPS: Baltimore sues 6 major online casinos, claims illegal gambling disguised as free games [CBS News]

RESPONSIBLE SPENDING: MGM Resorts and BetMGM to allocate over $1M towards RG efforts [SBC Americas]

BUTT OUT: Workers use casino revenue to argue for a smoking ban in Atlantic City [Press of Atlantic City]

KEEP YOUR GUARD UP: FBI cyber agent warns casinos to remain vigilant against attacks [CDC Gaming]

MONEY TALKS: Casino bids placed big bets on New York City lobbying firms in 2025 [City & State NY]

CRACKDOWN IN SAC-TOWN: Investigators dismantle illegal casinos in Sacramento County neighborhoods [KCRA 3]

JUST THE ’FAX: Fairfax County casino bill passes House of Delegates [FFX Now]

OREGON SCALE: Construction of Wildhorse Resort and Casino’s $100 million expansion project on track for 2027 completion [Apple Valley News Now]

The Bonus Round

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

• MGM Grand announced Thursday that magician David Copperfield will end his 25-year-long residency on April 30. Maybe this is related, maybe it isn’t, but Copperfield’s name appears in the Epstein Files and there are photos all over the internet of him with Ghislaine Maxwell — and the famous illusionist has been unable to make any of that stuff disappear.

• We love a good, creative casino promo, and Pechanga Resort Casino in Temecula, California, caught our eye with this one: The property has announced a “Home Sweet Win!” promotion, whereby a lucky entrant will win a fully furnished four-bed, three-bath home in Irvine. The results will be determined May 30, and Ty Pennington — of reality-TV home improvement — will be on hand to announce the winner. Full game play details can be found on the Pechanga website.