This Week in Gambling

We kick off the New Year with gambling news from Las Vegas, as well as California, Michigan and New York State! Also, there is a new World Series of Poker champion! Happy freaking New Year everyone! Jay Todd back after my two weeks off for the holidays. I could have used three weeks off, but whatever. Let’s get caught up with all the gambling news we’ve missed while I was away with this week’s big stories! For the 51st year in a row we have a new World Series of Poker champion! Last years WSOP wrapped up over the first…

Another Las Vegas resort has joined the ranks of midweek closures. The Mirage Las Vegas shut it’s doors today, ceasing all operations at their casino and restaurants Mondays through Thursdays. Their hotel had already been closed for midweek operations in November. In an announcement, MGM Resorts stated that these closures come as midweek demand has been low due to Coronavirus and the state wide restrictions on large groups. MGM says that they do not anticipate the closures to last beyond February. However, they will “continue evaluating business levels”, leaving the door open for the shut down to last longer. Overall,…

In the face of the Coronavirus, Pennsylvania online gambling and betting on sports set new records! Despite that bit of good news, however, overall income from gaming was down for the state year-on-year due to the pandemic. Total gambling revenue in November amounted to $283.3 million, a drop of nearly 3% from the same time last year. The numbers were also 11.5% lower than the figures posted in October, this according to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. Sports bets placed online made up over $31 million of the state’s total, compared with just $6.2 million from land based betting. You…

The numbers are in… and they are staggering, as US Tribal Gaming operators netted $34.6  billion in 2019. Those numbers were reported by the National Indian Gaming Commission and mark a 2.5% jump in revenue. That total was derived from over 500 independent financial statements submitted to the Commission by 245 federally recognized tribes across 29 states. The Commission Chairman said that revenue for 2020 could be in jeopardy, however, due to the Coronavirus pandemic. The reports for 2019 profits were recorded well before the forced closures of commercial and tribal casino operations this year. More about Tribal Gaming profits…

The Gaming Control Board has announced that they expect online gambling in Michigan will be live by the middle of this month. The Governor signed legislation which legalized sports gambling in the state late in 2019. Online gaming, however, had to establish it’s own regulations and licensing. The legislature’s Joint Committee on Administrative Rules approved the needed regulations last month and waived the 15-day waiting period, allowing casinos and the Gaming Control Board to go to work on the licensing process immediately. Fifteen casinos and their vendors have already been approved, including Gun Lake Casino in Wayland and the Four…

A new champion was crowned at the Rio recently. The 2020 World Series of Poker for America was won by Joseph Hebert, a Louisiana native, who took home well over $1.5 million. After the event the 38 year old told PokerNews.com that he was “…really confident. I was excited to play and it was just a battle.” It was also an emotional victory for Hebert, who lost his mother last summer after suffering a pulmonary embolism. He will now play heads up with the international poker champion, Damian Salas, for the title of world champion and another $1 million. You…