Spin Cycle: Slot Tax Tweak, Live Dealer Leap 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 …

Not quite ‘big,’ but maybe somewhat ‘beautiful’?

The gambling world has been so busy the last couple of weeks freaking out (rightfully so) over the provision in the 870-page federal bill passed on the July 4 holiday changing gambling loss tax deductions that we all missed a dollop of good news buried in Section 70433.

When the bill goes into effect, the rule requiring casinos to present patrons with a W2-G tax form for any slot machine win of $1,200 or more will be replaced with one raising the minimum threshold to $2,000.

Rep. Dina Titus of Nevada has long been pushing for that minimum to be raised to $5,000 (more in line with inflation rates, since the $1,200 figure was first established in 1977), so she hasn’t quite gotten her way, but at least she’s getting something. It’s at best a small win for gamblers, but these days, the industry should perhaps be happy with anything that isn’t a loss.

By the way, the bill Titus filed in March to raise the minimum threshold to $5,000 is called the Shifting Limits on Thresholds Act — or, the SLOT Act. If only our elected officials were as good at getting stuff done as they are at coming up with cute acronyms …

Caesars deals Michigan in

New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Michigan are the “big three” in terms of legal online casino states, and Caesars Entertainment has now that entire trifecta in terms of live dealer casino offerings.

The company announced Monday the launch of its Michigan studio for live dealer games, now available in the state on Caesars Palace Online Casino, Horseshoe Online Casino, and Caesars Sportsbook & Casino. Caesars opened live dealer studios in Pennsylvania in January and in Jersey in April. All of the studios are in partnership with Evolution.

“Our third live dealer studio expands our fully customized live dealer experience that is already extremely popular in Pennsylvania and New Jersey into another key jurisdiction where our online casino platforms are live,” said Caesars Digital Senior Vice President and Chief iGaming Officer Matthew Sunderland via press release. “The studio design takes inspiration from our flagship destination, Caesars Palace, to authentically recreate the atmosphere of Las Vegas for online players.”

The new studio includes five blackjack tables, one roulette table, and one baccarat table. The tables have an assortment of custom-branded felts — including one celebrating Michigan’s NFL team:

Maverick grounded

As The Seattle Times reported, Washington state casino and card room operator Maverick Gaming — which also owns and operates properties in Nevada and Colorado — filed in Texas for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Monday. The company also announced the closure of four casinos in Washington: Dragon Tiger Casino in Mountlake, Palace Casino in Lakewood, Roman Casino in Seattle, and Silver Dollar Renton.

According to the Maverick website, the closures and the company’s financial struggles are connected to a recent vote by the gaming board in Washington “to shut down the centralized surveillance petition, which was intended to support Washington Cardrooms.”

As noted in The Seattle Times, Maverick faces high operating costs and rent obligations, and according to court papers, it listed total liabilities and assets of at least $100 million.

It is unclear how the Maverick bankruptcy filings may impact its litigation — first filed in 2022 — against the U.S. Department of the Interior and Washington state officials challenging the “discriminatory tribal gaming monopoly” in the state.

House Rules: Insights from around our network

POT COMMITTED: Is cannabis tourism in Las Vegas a chimera or a cash cow? [by David McKee]

BAD, FELLAS: Classic bust out, Illinois style: Tax the apps, whack the bettors [by Jeff Edelstein]

THE HOUSE OFTEN WINS: Arrow is up for second quarter 2025 online sports betting hold [by Brett Smiley]

REVENUE, JERSEY STYLE: New Jersey online casino revenue rises 23.5% in June, FanDuel widening its lead [by Chris Altruda]

REVENUE, PENNSY STYLE: June Pennsylvania online casino revenue was over $200 million for eighth month in a row [by Chris Altruda]

LESS IS MORE: NCPG study reveals drop in percentage of Americans who gamble and those reporting ‘risky’ behavior’ [by Ella Gorodetzky]

MINING FOR CLUES: Legal doctrine addressing ‘obnoxious’ lawmaking may factor in prediction-market litigation [by Ryan Rodenberg]

MOVING RIGHT ALONG: California anti-sweeps bill passes second Senate committee [by Chris Altruda]

‘COMPLETE LUNACY’: Daily fantasy sports players caught in middle of political firestorm in California [by Brett Smiley]

HAVING A (POWER)BALL: Upbeat NCLGS lottery panel exudes calm confidence [by Chris Altruda]

GIDDY-UP!: Nine times ‘Seinfeld’ told us Kramer was a serious problem gambler [by Eric Raskin]

Small stakes and hot takes

This week on the Casino Reports podcast Low Rollers, Jeff Edelstein and I welcome our colleague Brant James, fresh off his trip to a sometimes contentious NCLGS Summer Meeting in Louisville, Ky. We discuss not just the panels at the conference, but also the preferred pronunciation of the organization’s acronym. Here’s a taste:

Jeff and I also discuss two Illinois sportsbooks instituting minimum wagers to offset new tax rules, Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi having everything go his way at the WSOP Main Event final table, exchange wagering news regarding Railbird and PredictIt, and a rather confusing iCasino promo. Full episode:

The Shuffle: Other news and views

WORKING HYBRID: Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City bridging the omni gap with in-person Digital Center for online customers [G3 Newswire]

DROPPED CALL: Legal battle puts national problem gambling helpline at risk [newsnet5]

HOT SPOT: The scourge of ‘spot-fixing’ is coming for American sports [The Wall Street Journal]

STACKED DECK: Nevada regulators reject appeal by presumed blackjack advantage player [CDC Gaming Reports]

HUGE APPLE: New York City casinos could become world’s biggest, bidders predict [Business Times]

DIRTY LAUNDRY: Hard Rock suspends top exec amid AML allegations involving prominent illegal bookie [iGaming Business]

CHIP SHAPE: Big change coming for Las Vegas poker players at Strip casinos [Las Vegas Review-Journal]

MEET VIRGINIA: Live Casino & Hotel Virginia announces three hires [CDC Gaming Reports]

ONWARD AND UPWARD: Evolution’s second-quarter revenue grows 3.1% year-on-year to hit US$607 million [Complete iGaming]

PRICED OUT: Viva Las Vegas? Tourists shun Sin City over ‘ridiculous prices’ [The Times]

The Bonus Round

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

• This weekend, the Uno Social Club opens its doors at the Palms Casino, bringing the beloved card game to Las Vegas for … oh, wait, it’s an “elevated social experience,” according to the press release, and you won’t be able to legally gamble on Uno. Never mind. We’re playing the “Skip” card on this one.

• Noted gambling journalist David Hill launched a new podcast this week called American Gambler Book Club ahead of the release of his next book, tentatively titled American Gambler. (Full disclosure: Casino Reports’ sister site InGame is a sponsor of the podcast.) The first episode of Hill’s pod was right up my alley, as his guest was my former Grantland.com colleague Jay Caspian Kang, and they discussed the 1973 book National Football Lottery by Larry Merchant, a longtime friend of mine in the boxing media space. Assuming you’re all caught up on Low Rollers, this podcast is definitely worth a listen:

• Random little news item of the week: On Thursday, Carnival Corporation — the cruise company — announced it had become a member of the American Gaming Association (AGA), becoming the first cruise operator to join the casino industry trade group.

• Sometimes, you have to lay your cash down to lay the smack down. Fanatics Betting & Gaming announced on Tuesday a partnership with WWE to produce and distribute WWE-themed online casino games. The games are expected to launch in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and West Virginia by the end of July, ahead of this year’s SummerSlam. There will be five games at launch: WWE Blackjack, Raw Multiplier Melee, Smackdown Big Money Entrance!, WWE Bonus Rumble Gold Blitz, and WWE Clash of the Wilds.

• It’s always fun to wrap up Spin Cycle with a big jackpot win, so: At Mohegan Sun in Connecticut last week, a player hit the Bonus Spin Xtreme on a $5 side bet while playing blackjack, and reeled in the progressive prize of $2,018,742. Not a bad ROI on that one.