Spin Cycle: Massachusetts Movement, Slots Insensitivities 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 …

Massachusetts iCasino: The conversation is coming

We could dwell on the events of the past week … or we could kick off Spin Cycle by jumping straight ahead to next week.

Starting Monday, Massachusetts will begin formal discussions on legalizing and regulating online casinos — a (potentially) major gaming business development. House Bill 332 and Senate Bill 235, which were introduced in February, are scheduled for a hearing in the Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure.

The bills propose the creation of both Category 1 licenses (for up to two iGaming platforms for each of the state’s three land-based casinos) and Category 2 licenses (available to operators without brick-and-mortar tethers). A proposed $5 million license fee would cover a five-year licensing period, with operator winnings taxed at 20%.

No other state has legalized online casino gaming in 2025, but Massachusetts can take its time, as its session doesn’t formally end until Nov. 19.

Expected detailed coverage next week at Casino Reports.

Big backlash from BC

There’s edgy … and then there’s offensive.

Noted slots influencer Brian Christopher feels very strongly that the new slot game Transformers, from Wicked Games, is on the wrong side of that line, as he explained in an interview with iGaming Expert.

“There is no place for a game like this in the casino gaming space, or anywhere for that matter,” Christopher said.

The game’s title may have people initially thinking about a popular line of toys and Michael Bay movies, but it is in fact a reference to transgender themes — and the game includes all sorts of imagery that appears to come from a place of mocking, rather than supporting, the LGBTQ+ community. The central character is a decidedly male-looking weightlifter dressed in women’s clothes, and the game materials describe them as “A chemically-enhanced lunatic” who “dominates the women’s league in a shameless slot spectacle.”

The game includes various other symbols that Christopher finds offensive — as would any other supporter of trans rights.

According to iGaming Expert, Wicked Games CEO Igor Samardziski said in response to their media inquiry that “he doesn’t believe it is a fair assessment that the game is an attack on the LGBTQ+ community.”

Report: U.S. online casino deposits, spend higher

The May 2025 Optimove U.S. Gaming Pulse Report showed online casino players in the United States are depositing and betting more money than is averaged globally.

The report notes an average deposit size in the U.S. of $604 and a 10% year-over year increase, compared to a $214 average deposit and 2% year-over-year increase globally. For the 12-month period from May 2024-25, the number of U.S. iCasino players grew 30% year-over-year, and bettors averaged $8,259 wagered. Those numbers are well above the global averages of 14% growth and $1,329 risked.

Despite that high U.S. online casino spend, Optimove reported America was below the global average in engagement and retention. Global players averaged 8.9 days per month of play, while the U.S. averaged 7.9. Global retention reached 71%, while U.S. retention peaked at 65%.

The report tracked the trends of 3.2 million active players per month in the U.S. and more than 21.3 million globally.

— Ella Gorodetzky

Step up for Sharapan

Just before this edition of Spin Cycle went to press, I learned that Dave Sharapan, the “Sportsbook Consigliere,” is battling cancer. Dave is a personal friend — and that’s a claim just about everyone in this business would make, as the co-host of The Bostonian vs. the Book is about as universally liked as anyone I’ve come across in my time in gambling.

The good is, the cancer was caught early and the outlook is positive. The bad news is, Dave needs surgery and will be unable to work for a while.

That’s likely to put Dave in some financial difficulty, so there’s a GoFundMe to help him and his family get through this challenging time. Please click this link and consider donating.

New York, New York

There were two pieces of housekeeping business on the New York City-area casino front Friday.

The more important of the items was Gov. Kathy Hochul signing A6781 into law, officially rezoning the land in Flushing Meadow Corona Park from parkland as part of the $8 billion Metropolitan Park casino bid fronted by Hard Rock and New York Mets owner Steve Cohen.

The second item was the New York State Gaming Commission releasing a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a consultant to provide gaming advisory services for the New York Gaming Facility Location Board. The consultant will be tasked with providing financial advisory services to the board via analyses of submitted applications and revenue impact for each applicant’s proposed gaming facility. The consultant will also be responsible for providing summaries and comparisons of aspects of the applications.

— Chris Altruda

House Rules: Insights from around our network

MAINE SQUEEZE: Maine legislature passes iCasino bill, but it’s far from the finish line [by Jeff Edelstein]

CENTS AND SENSIBILITY: Illinois surcharge could equal increase in net revenue for DraftKings, FanDuel [by Jill Dorson]

LOTTO HELP: Online lottery CEO: Couriers are innovation in lottery industry, not competition [by Matthew Bain]

NEW JERSEY NUMBERS: New Jersey furthers online casino revenue record to $246.8 million for May [by Chris Altruda]

MICHIGAN NUMBERS TOO: Michigan online casino revenue clears $250 million for May, second highest ever in state [by Chris Altruda]

AND PENNSYLVANIA NUMBERS AS WELL: Pennsylvania tops $600 million in total gaming revenue for first time [by Chris Altruda]

NORTHERN EXPOSURE: Canada, America, responsible gambling, and duty of care [by Richard Schuetz]

IT’S OFFICIAL: Illinois governor signs state budget with new sportsbook tax [by Ella Gorodetzky]

PUBLIC EYE: As IPO market heats up, Fanatics conspicuous by its absence [by Todd Shriber]

SOMETHING CIG-NIFICANT?: Casino smoking ban potentially a big issue in New Jersey gubernatorial election year [by John Brennan]

ICE COLD TAKE: Excise me? The dumb plan to deport people through parlays [by Jeff Edelstein]

Small stakes and hot takes

This week on the Casino Reports podcast Low Rollers, Jeff Edelstein and I welcomed author Michael Kaplan, whose new book Advantage Players explores winners both inside and outside the gambling realm. The conversation spanned from adult film stars to cancer, and quite a few points in between. Here’s a taste:

Jeff and I also shared our thoughts on numerous entities ganging up on Kalshi and perhaps shifting the prediction-market momentum, a no-good week for sweepstakes casinos, how to fix the Poker Hall of Fame, and more. Full episode:

The Shuffle: Other news and views

THERE’S AN APP FOR THAT: West Virginia launches digital app to support gambling addiction recovery [WTRF.com]

LOCAL FLAVOR: The Strat launches locals-only loyalty program [Las Vegas Review-Journal]

ZOOT LOOT: Meta gaming veteran secures $6M to accelerate stablecoin gaming integration [press release]

ROLLING RAPIDS: Judge: Cedar Rapids casino can move forward [The Gazette]

OVER AND OUT: Departing Gaming Control Board chairman called ‘strong leader,’ morale booster [The Nevada Independent]

PLAYING THE RACE(TRACK) CARD: ICE, state police raid Delta Downs in southwest Louisiana [Louisiana Illuminator]

GARDEN VARIETY: Murphy says he is ‘open-minded’ about casinos beyond Atlantic City to keep gambling dollars in NJ [Press of Atlantic City]

THE MORE, THE MERRIER: Illinois: Two new casinos help boost state revenue more than 22% year-over-year in May [CDC Gaming Reports]

GIMME A BREAK: From free parking to waived resort fees, here’s why Las Vegas casinos are rolling out deals this summer [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.

• If there’s a more “straight to The Bonus Round at the bottom of Spin Cycle” story that this, I’m not aware of it: TMZ reported Thursday that former NFL superstar Adrian Peterson was recently playing poker at a “social club” in Houston and got into a fist fight with another player. Peterson’s punching technique was generally unimpressive, but all in all, this went better for him than his 2022 celebrity boxing match with Le’Veon Bell, in which “AP” was TKO’d in the fifth round.

• New slots game alert from BetMGM: Light & Wonder announced the debut Thursday of The Wizard of Oz — Follow the Yellow Brick Road, now available in New Jersey, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Ontario. Here’s a look:

• Let’s wrap things up with an absolutely sick World Series of Poker hand. This was on the money bubble with 11 players remaining in the $250K Super High Roller (the final 10 would get paid, starting with a $516,393 payout for 10th). Enjoy: