This Week in Gambling

A few days after announcing the reopening of the Aria casino, MGM Resorts has set dates for the Luxor and Mandalay Bay opening. The Luxor will reopen on June 25th, followed by the Mandalay Bay and Aria Casino on July 1st. Originally, Aria was originally slated for a July 4th open. MGM Resorts kicked off the return of its Las Vegas hotel-casino operations on June 4 with the reopening of the Bellagio, MGM Grand and New York-New York. The resorts were shut down back in March as part of Gov. Steve Sisolak’s mandatory closure of non-essential Nevada businesses. The upcoming…

In a drama that never seems to die, a Federal Appellate Court will hear arguments on the 2018 DOJ Wire Act Opinion by teleconference next week on June 18th. The remote conferencing is because of restrictions still in place because of the COVID-19 crisis. In 2002, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s ruling that the act was exclusive to sports betting, and while there were efforts in Congress to amend the law, a Department of Justice opinion in 2011 stated interstate gambling transactions that were not sports-related were not in purview to the Wire Act. That…

We have more Las Vegas casinos opening! Plus, another state regulates sports betting and one pushes legislation to legalize it! We also discuss when professional sports leagues will resume games so players have something to bet on!   The Excalibur casinos opening is slated for June 11, according to MGM Resorts. The resort was closed along with all of its neighboring properties due to the pandemic in mid-March. MGM Resorts is planning to open Aria Casino by July 4. MGM Grand, Bellagio, New York-New York, MGM Grand and The Signature last week. Colorado’s Department of Revenue has revealed that total…

As is usually the case with California sports betting, at least one Tribal casino opposes legislation that would regulate the activity. The Tribe who operate the Cache Creek Casino has told legislators that they do not support the proposed amendment to the state constitution to legalize sports gambling. The central reason for the opposition is that the bill would also allow state card rooms to offer some of the same games as Tribal casinos… a move that Tribal gaming view as illegal. In addition to sports betting, the amendment would also allow tribal casinos new permission to offer roulette and…

We look at features and game play for the Sparkling Roses Color Bloom slot machine, a linked progressive from Konami Gaming. Sparkling Roses Color Bloom is a 40 line slot machine where players can wager 60, 120 or a max of 180 credits. When a player bets less than max, any three, four or five scatter rose symbols trigger up to 12 free games, while six will trigger 20 free games. The Sparkling Roses Color Bloom slot game comes on the Konami KX 43, named for the 43-inch cinematic display and 4K graphics. And on the Concerto Crescent, with a…

Rocky Mountain bettors did not disappoint in their first full month, as Colorado sports betting was able to process over $25 million in bets. All bets were placed via mobile devices since all land based casinos were closed in mid-March due to Coronavirus. Four operators launched on May 1, the first day from which bets could be taken, with six licensees currently active. DraftKings, FanDuel, Roar Digital’s betMGM and Rush Street’s BetRivers opened their virtual doors May 1st, followed by Monarch Casino on May 14th, and Stars Group on the 19th. The first month handle was even more impressive when…