Spin Cycle: Poker Controversy, Play-Through Pushback 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 …

Poker’s wild

There were poker controversies everywhere you turned this week — from the World Series of Poker on the Vegas Strip, to the Golden Nugget downtown, to a small poker room in Houston.

The WSOP flap was the big one, as it developed with two players remaining in a bracelet event and millions of dollars at stake.

Entering heads-up play in the $1,500 Millionaire Maker on Wednesday night, James Carroll had a 9-to-1 chip lead over Jesse Yaginuma, as they prepared to battle for the $1,255,180 first-place prize. Yaginuma, however, was also eligible to win a $1 million bonus from a promotion on ClubWPT Gold — an unrelated sweepstakes poker site — if he bagged a WSOP bracelet. Yaginuma rallied and won, but viewers found the play along the way to be suspicious — as if Carroll was playing the way one might if one had made a deal to split that extra million dollars that would not be available to either player unless Yaginuma won.

In the immediate aftermath, the WSOP launched an investigation while withholding both players’ payouts. The investigation is still ongoing as of press time.

A smaller controversy unfolded Wednesday morning at the Golden Nugget Las Vegas, where a tournament in the Grand Poker Series with a $1,200 buy-in and an advertised $1 million guaranteed prize pool began … but after one level of play, the tournament was canceled and the entrants refunded. Apparently the Golden Nugget had decided before the start of the event to remove the $1 million guarantee, but some players who’d entered were unaware of that. Those players thought the guarantee was in place and wanted their money back when they found out there would be no overlay. So the tournament was scrapped.

And rounding out the rounders rough stuff, at JokerStars Poker Room in Houston on Sunday, three players — one of them a former employee of the club — were busted for cheating, using technology to reveal their opponents’ cards. The trio was caught swapping in a deck of cards with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tracking, and one of the players later confessed. The poker room returned all lost money to the cheated players.

Not fine with the fine print

The Public Health Advocacy Institute (PHAI) filed a lawsuit in Philadelphia last Friday, accusing Caesars Online Casino and its brick-and-mortar partner, Harrah’s Philadelphia, of running a “dangerous, misleading, and illegal ‘deposit match’ program.”

In a press release, the PHAI explained the fine print regarding the advertised “$2,500 deposit match”:

Only in the small-print terms and conditions is it disclosed that a new customer playing Blackjack is required to gamble and risk $375,000 in just the first seven days after opening an account. In other words, no money or winnings can be withdrawn unless a total of $375,000 is gambled and risked. All money lost during the first 7-day period is kept by Caesars and Harrah’s Casino.

Formally, the case is Brubaker vs Chester Downs and Marina, LLC et al.

A closer look at the topic of play-through requirements — the crux of this lawsuit — will be coming soon to Casino Reports.

BetMGM seeing (Ruby) red

International game developer RubyPlay and BetMGM announced a partnership Wednesday that brings several of RubyPlay’s games to BetMGM’s online casino app in New Jersey.

Among the titles highlighted in the press release are Gummy Giga Match, Diamond Explosion Patriots, Mad Hit Wild Alice, Go High Panda, and Immortal Ways Sweet Coin.

“Securing a partnership with BetMGM — one of the most iconic names in the industry — is a game-changing milestone in our North American growth,” said RubyPlay Chief Product Officer Dr. Eyal Loz. “Seeing our games live with BetMGM speaks volumes in both the quality of our content and the big strides we’re making in this part of the world. We’re looking forward to working closely with the BetMGM team to provide them with even more content that entertains their impressive player base.”

House Rules: Insights from around our network

SWIFTLY SWEEPING: California bill to ban unregulated sweepstakes could move fast [by Jill R. Dorson]

BAD NEWS FOR FANTASY, TOO: Déjà vu all over again: California’s AG about to take aim at fantasy sports [by Jeff Edelstein]

MURPHY’S LAW: New Jersey raising online casino tax rate, which could cost state in the long run [by John Brennan]

PICK-OFF PLAY: Why Bally’s resort on Vegas baseball stadium site is unlikely to cross home plate [by David McKee]

LET IT GO: State of Florida calls for court to dismiss latest gambling lawsuit [by Jill R. Dorson]

LEARNING FROM TEXAS’ MISTAKES: Arizona Lottery passes rules prohibiting bulk ticket purchases [by Chris Altruda]

SPIN AND GRIN: YouTube slots influencers hit the jackpot [by Brant James]

WE HAVE A PROBLEM: Actions speak loudest in responsible gambling realm [by Richard Schuetz]

TWIN UNICORNS: Kalshi valued at $2B, Polymarket $1B, in new funding rounds [by Daniel O’Boyle]

BLUE LIGHT SPECIAL: Study: Your phone’s blue light could be rewiring your brain for risky bets [by Jeff Edelstein]

Small stakes and hot takes

This week on the Casino Reports podcast Low Rollers, Jeff Edelstein and I welcome our boss/colleague/friend Adam Small, the co-founder of Third Planet Media, to offer his reaction to the California anti-sweeps legislation from the perspective of someone on the affiliate side of the gambling business. Here’s a taste:

Jeff and I also give our own takes on the California amendment to ban sweepstakes gaming, analyze efforts to legalize online casino in Maine and Massachusetts, and discuss the end of the Texas Lottery Commission. Full episode:

The Shuffle: Other news and views

SWEEPSTAKES OG: Online casino operator wins auction for Publishers Clearing House [Wall Street Journal]

BREATHE EASIER: RI lawmakers pass state budget, restrict casino smoking and payday loans on final day [The Providence Journal]

MEET THE NEW BOSS: Dreitzer brings leadership to his new role as Nevada’s Control Board chair [Las Vegas Review-Journal]

CLEARED FOR LAUNCH: Venetian owner Apollo gets green light from Nevada regulator to acquire IGT and Everi [CDC Gaming Reports]

SOUTHERN DISCOMFORT: WOW Vegas heeds Louisiana’s call to leave the state [SBC Americas]

TECH FORWARD: Playtech launches in West Virginia [Complete iGaming]

SWORD PLAY: ‘Underrated’ medieval-themed Strip megaresort celebrates 35 years [Las Vegas Review-Journal]

EXCLUSION CONFUSION: Deadwood casino fined for letting a person on exclusion list make bets [Keloland.com]

SIN CITY, MINUS THE SIN: Nevada Gaming Control Board warns casinos over drug use, sexual violence, and prostitution [CDC Gaming Reports]

AND STAY OUT!: 15 people banned from gambling in Pennsylvania [ABC 27 WHTM]

The Bonus Round

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

• Kirk Hendrick, the outgoing chairman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board (see link above in “The Shuffle” section to the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s story on his replacement), offered some classy parting thoughts on his LinkedIn page on his final day on the job. “My sincere thanks to Governor Joe Lombardo for allowing me to lead the approximate 400 dedicated NGCB agents and employees,” Hendrick wrote. “They deserve all the credit for consistently regulating Nevada’s vital gaming industry. It has been the honor of my lifetime to represent Nevada, and to give back to the state that has provided so much for me and my family.”

• Meanwhile, this week’s award for a gaming industry professional not mincing words on social media goes to …

• Jonathan Tamayo, the man who won the 2024 World Series of Poker Main Event for a pre-tax payout of $10 million, could certainly have afforded to pay $10,000 to enter this year’s tournament and attempt to defend his title. But instead, on Sunday he entered a $160 online “Flipament” satellite, a tournament awarding a seat based on pure luck (everyone is all-in blind every hand until there’s a winner), and out of 64 players, Tamayo came out on top. Hey, when you’re hot, you’re hot, right?

• Closing the column with more WSOP material, a couple of the top tweets regarding the annual Ladies Championship: