Spin Cycle: Showcase Showdowns, Stigma Stand Downs 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 …

BetMGM, come on down!

Ah, The Price is Right. A cornerstone hour of any sick day spent home from school for my generation. Bob Barker. Rod Roddy. Barker’s Beauties.

Now it’s Drew Carey, George Gray, and a slew of attractive models of all genders.

And BetMGM.

The online operator announced Wednesday that, starting Sept. 22, The Price is Right will debut a new pricing game in collaboration with BetMGM called The Lion’s Share, described in a press release as follows:

“Contestants will have an opportunity to win up to $500,000 in cash, cars, trips, and prizes. The game begins with a challenge, where players judge if the prices of everyday items are correct. Each right answer earns them a ball, for a maximum of five. They then step into a wind tunnel chamber to collect the number of balls they’ve earned, with each ball corresponding to a particular prize, or possibly a ‘Lose It All’ option. Contestants reveal their prizes one at a time or may stop at any point to keep what they’ve won.”

Perhaps of greater importance to gamblers, a related online casino game also called The Lion’s Share is in development, with a planned 2026 release. BetMGM Casino is regulated in New Jersey, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

Yas, Queen

The Illinois Gaming Board renewed the casino license of DraftKings at Casino Queen by a unanimous 4-0 vote Thursday. The license, which took effect retroactively to July, is good for four years through July 2029. General Manager Marc VanderWeele made the presentation for renewal for the Bally’s-owned property, boasting of a 400-strong workforce that features more than 60% of its employees locally based, in or near East St. Louis.

VanderWeele pointed out that the venue along the Missouri border had invested more than $12 million in upgrades to its dining options since its previous license renewal in 2021 and noted DraftKings called the retail sportsbook “the premier retail sportsbook in their whole entire line.”

It was also the first IGB meeting for Caleb J. Melamed, who was appointed to the board by Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker on Wednesday. He had previously served as legislative liaison and legal counsel for the state agency for nearly 20 years. Melamed, who still technically requires state Senate confirmation, also had stints with the Illinois Attorney General’s Office and the state’s Labor Relations Board.

— Chris Altruda

Forces for good

Kindbridge Research Institute announced this week the launch of Stigma Stand Down, a new initiative in Colorado focused on those in the military struggling with mental health or gambling-related challenges. The intent is to destigmatize gambling disorders by normalizing all related conversations and hopefully encouraging active or former military service members to seek help when needed.

“Stigma is a silent enemy that leaves our service members and veterans isolated, harming their families, units, and mission readiness,” said Kindbridge Director of Programming Mark Lucia in a release. “Stigma Stand Down is our frontline response: dismantling shame and delivering free, confidential, evidence-based care designed for military realities.”

Kindbridge, a leader in behavioral addiction research, cited four elements of what Stigma Stand Down entails: education and resources, free mental health support, statewide outreach, and self-assessment tools.

For more information, Kindbridge encourages people to go to stigmastanddown.com or call 1-844-FREEVET.

House Rules: Insights from around our network

BREAK OUT THE BROOMS: California anti-sweeps bill heading back to full Assembly [by Chris Altruda]

GOOD HUMOR: BetMGM responsible gambling ad changes what RG messaging could be [by Jeff Edelstein]

OBSTACLE COURSE: There’s always a ‘but’ with online casino contenders [by Steve Ruddock]

SCALE UP!: How ‘jackpot fever’ impacts a lottery courier [by Eric Raskin]

LOCATION CHECK: Black-market wagering site is most often searched in non-legal betting states [by Jill R. Dorson]

BROOKLYN BRAWLERS: Public hearing for The Coney turns into another powder keg [by Chris Altruda]

TO DINE FOR: Living with legends [by Richard Schuetz]

EXCHANGE OF SCENERY: ‘Cadillac’ PredictIt rejoins prediction market fray, promises new markets [By Brant James]

THE TRIBE HAS SPOKEN: Indian Gaming conference becomes rallying cry to stamp out sweeps, rail against prediction markets [by Jill R. Dorson]

BETR JUDGMENT: Betr monitors prediction market scene, but will focus on picks, arcade app [by Brant James]

THREATS AND BETS: Seminole Gaming warns Florida residents about illegal gambling [by Jeff Edelstein]

Small stakes and hot takes

This week on the Casino Reports podcast Low Rollers, my co-host Jeff Edelstein and I welcome John Pappas, a longtime industry consultant based in D.C. and an advisor to GeoComply, for a conversation about prediction markets, regulators aggressively addressing offshores, the Illinois per-wager tax, and more. Here’s a taste:

Jeff and I also discuss Rep. Dina Titus’ effort to attach the FAIR Bet Act getting rebuffed, two winners splitting the $1.78 billion Powerball jackpot, and the haunting pain of regret as a sports bettor or DFS player. Full episode:

The Shuffle: Other news and views

LET’S PLAY SOME CARDS: Dallas poker room can stay open after yearslong legal fight [WFAA.com]

FALL OF AN EMPIRE: Caesars Entertainment dropped from S&P 500, displaced by Robinhood [CDC Gaming]

NO BIG WHOOP: Playtech labels sweepstakes operations ‘immaterial’ after California exit [SBC Americas]

SPOT FOUL: ‘Las Vegas still doesn’t get it’: LVCVA ad generates harsh reaction [Las Vegas Review-Journal]

THE HARD WAY: Let me introduce you to real Las Vegas pioneer [Chicago Sun-Times]

PENN STATE SLATE: Happy Valley Casino reveals full table game lineup, including blackjack and roulette [Centre Daily Times]

GRAND PLANS: Reno casino resort to break ground on massive $1 billion arena project [Reno Gazette Journal]

COLD, HARD ASH: Smokers can still light up in NJ casinos — the air inside is more toxic than anyone realizes [NJ.com]

The Bonus Round

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

• This week in “you couldn’t make this stuff up” news: A man who incurred about $16,000 in gambling losses on a cruise ship jumped overboard when the ship docked in San Juan, Puerto Rico, only to be “fished out of the water by passersby on jet skis and taken to shore,” as NBC News reported. It’s no “poop cruise,” but probably the next closest thing as far as wild cruise ship tales go. (Netflix doc to follow?)

• Raskin’s worlds are colliding! Some readers may be aware that in addition to covering gambling, I also write about boxing in my spare time. And this week I learned that heavyweight champion of the world Oleksandr Usyk is the headline speaker at SBC Summit 2025 in Lisbon, Portugal next week. I’m not quite sure what Usyk knows about gambling. The press release says he “will bring a unique perspective on building performance-driven businesses,” which sounds kinda flimsy to me … but I’m not going to be the one to tell that to Oleksandr Usyk.