This Week in Gambling

We have sports wagering news from New York and Vermont, plus gambling news from Oklahoma. But this week’s stories are overshadowed by the events in California on Sunday when we lost nine souls in a helicopter crash. Among the victims were NBA legend Kobe Bryant and his young daughter. Hello my friends, and thanks so much for joining me on another edition of This Week in Gambling. I come to you with a heavy heart for this program, as literally just hours before I came on I learned, like many of you, of the horrific helicopter crash in California that…

Kobe Bryant, an NBA all star and legend, and his daughter Gianna Maria Onore, died in a helicopter crash Sunday morning in Calabasas, California. Several others who have not been identified yet were also onboard. Shortly afterward, fans began assembling a memorial directly outside of the Staples Center in Los Angeles, where Bryant wowed fans for two decades. “He will live forever in the heart of Los Angeles, and will be remembered through the ages as one of our greatest heroes,” Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said in a statement, via ABC. “This is a moment that leaves us struggling…

A federal judge has been asked to enter a ruling that Oklahoma gambling is illegal… at least certain types of games located at tribal casinos. Perhaps not all gambling, but Governor Kevin Stitt wants the judge to order the tribes to stop operating Class III games at their properties. That’s why he filed a lawsuit earlier this week. “We are reviewing the pleading his lawyers filed on his behalf,” senior counsel for the Chickasaw Nation Stephen Greetham said. “We look forward to learning what legal basis he will claim to justify the uncertainty he has endeavored to create.” Stitt not…

We take an up-close look at the amazing Soulcalibur II Casino Skill Game from our friends at GameCo! Players compete through 6 stages of one round fights and place bets each time until they finally get to fight Inferno for free! Bandai Namco Entertainment partnered with GameCo to develop this skill-based gambling machine based on “Soulcalibur II.” Players may only select Taki or Mitsurugi, and fight against Talim, Raphael, Cervantes, Ivy, Cassandra, and Sophitia. The Soulcalibur II Casino Skill Game features a faster-pace than the classic game but maintains core game play elements. Jackpots are randomly triggered and the game…

Governor Phil Scott recently address both the House and Senate, where he said Vermont online sports betting should be a part of his $6.3 billion 2020 state budget proposal. “Our demographic crisis is — without question — the greatest challenge we face as a state, “Scott said, repeating his oft-stated warning. “Addressing this reality is crucial to Vermont’s future.” As reported by Seven Days, the governor’s proposed budget would not raise any existing taxes or fees, but it would create two new ones: Scott pitched legalizing and taxing online sports betting, as neighboring New Hampshire recently did, and he called…

Well, that didn’t take long. Barely three weeks into the new year and word has already come that New York mobile sports betting will not be happening in 2020. The states budget for the next fiscal year, starting in April, will not extend sports betting outside the confines of upstate casinos. Although Senator Joseph Addabbo has made repeated efforts to legalize online and mobile sports betting and called for their inclusion in the 2020-21 budget, Governor Andrew Cuomo opted not to include these components. Instead, the bill will allow for casinos to take bets throughout their premises, but not from…