Spin Cycle: Mission Massachusetts, Election Rejection 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 …

One if by land, two if by internet

Online casino expansion advocates are looking for any glimmer of hope that another state will join the party in the near future, and Massachusetts is the latest to offer such a glimmer.

State Rep. David Muradian told industry reporter Matthew Kredell this week that he plans to file a bill to legalize iCasino in Massachusetts in January 2025. Muradian is on the National Council of Legislators from iGaming States (NCLGS) committee that is crafting model iGaming legislation, and intends to base his state’s bill around the NCLGS guideposts.

Massachusetts already has land-based casinos and both mobile and in-person sports betting, and iLottery is coming in 2025. Two neighboring states, Connecticut and Rhode Island, are among the seven in the country with legalized online casinos.

Meanwhile, in Massachusetts sports betting news:

Political opposition

Betting on elections is not exactly legal in the U.S. But it isn’t exactly illegal either, as exchange wagering sites — most prominently PredictIt.org — continue to allow users to buy and sell shares in political markets. This week, a group of senators sent a letter to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) urging it to shut down this election betting avenue.

Led by Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon, the group referenced a previously proposed rule to prevent political betting markets, and asked that the CFTC implement that rule.

“Election gambling fundamentally cheapens the sanctity of our democratic process,” read part of the letter to CFTC Chairman Rostin Behnam. “Political bets change the motivations behind each vote, replacing political convictions with financial calculations. Allowing billionaires to wager extraordinary bets while simultaneously contributing to a specific candidate or party, and political insiders to bet on elections using non-public information, will further degrade public trust in the electoral process.”

It should be noted that on PredictIt, investment in any market is capped at $850.

The senators’ effort is being met with stern opposition in some quarters, as illustrated by this social media post from one of the founders of prediction market site Kalshi:

Shameless self-promotion alert!

We’ll start this segment with promotion for friends, not self: Bet Bash 2024 has been rolling at Circa Las Vegas since Tuesday, with professional gambler Gadoon “Spanky” Kyrollos putting on his annual networking event/party geared toward the sports bettors.

Up-and-coming bettor Isaac Rose Berman summed up the spirit of the event well on this week’s Bet the Process podcast: 

“It’s just been incredible meeting all of these people that you kind of know online, and then you meet all of these people who were trolling you online and are actually all friendly.”

Among other events, panels, and parties, this year there was a Bet Bash golf outing, sponsored by Sporttrade:

And the new non-profit group American Bettors’ Voice (ABV) had a presence — Bet Bash was its public coming-out party, essentially — and this is where we get to the shameless self-promotion. As noted in a previous edition of Spin Cycle, my Casino Reports colleague Brett Smiley and I are on the board of ABV. And a few days ago, I hosted the first episode of The American Bettors’ Voice Podcast, along with guests Spanky and Richard Schuetz. Please give it a listen and subscribe if this subject matter of interest or importance to you.

The Shuffle: Other news and views

23 AND ME: 23 assorted thoughts on DraftKings’ planned betting surcharge, and one important poll

TAKING SIDES: Hospitality workers’ union endorses Harris, dismissing Trump’s pledge of tax-free tips

JAZZED ABOUT LOTTERY: Utah legislator reintroduces state lottery proposal for 2026 ballot

BOOK HIM!: Bowyer allegedly had 700+ illegal betting customers, washed money through Las Vegas and California casinos

FINE BY ME: Regulatory paper tigers and the impotence of fines

PENN AND PAPER: PENN Entertainment reports mixed Q2 results amid interactive challenges

LIGHT ON THEIR FEET: Light & Wonder execs exuberant over second-quarter earnings

IT WORKED … UNTIL IT DIDN’T: Two teens busted for million-dollar lottery scam at Texas Walmart

EXPENSIVE EXIT: Betway US shutdown will cost around $50M, iGaming expansion possible

LOOKING AT THE LANDSCAPE: Ruddock Report: Legislators’ focus is not on online casino

TIK’D OFF: FanDuel sued for privacy violations using TikTok ‘trap and trace’ software

ANY TAKERS?: Endeavor puts OpenBet and IMG Arena up for sale

KID BLOCK: Senate passes Kids Online Safety Act with overwhelming majority

PUT ME IN, COACH: Broncos’ Eyioma Uwazurike reinstated from gambling suspension

JUST FOR FUN: Popular poker-esque game Balatro banned from gambling use by developer

WAITING GAME: New York casino licensing bill stalls as deadline nears, leaving 2025 timeline intact

UNPACKING THE RULING: Indian country weighs impact on tribal gaming regulations of Supreme Court’s Chevron decision

YOU BREAK IT, YOU BUY IT: Former Director Rebuck aligned with NJ DGE on making bet365 pay for its pricing errors

GOOD PUB: Nevada gaming regulators okay Red Rock Resorts getting into the tavern business

The Bonus Round

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

• David Danzis of the Las Vegas Review-Journal compiled this week the earnings in 2023 of several top Las Vegas casino executives, and … boy oh boy, the difference between their base salaries and their total compensation will blow your hair back. I wanna be a casino executive when I grow up. Here’s the list:

• Congratulations to friend-of-Casino-Reports David Purdum, the longtime ESPN gambling industry reporter, on signing a multi-year contract renewal with The Worldwide Leader. “In my eyes, ESPN remains the perfect platform to cover the wild world of sports betting,” Purdum said via press release, “something I’ve been blessed to do for the last 10 years.” With this deal locked down, Purdum becomes about a -500 favorite to last longer at ESPN than ESPN Bet.

• Hey everyone, Rounders 2!!! (OK, not really. But … basically.)