Industry News of the Day for January 10, 2019

Industry news of the day:

West Virginia:

• Online Poker Report, 1.10.19 – West Virginia Looks to Legalize Online Casino, Poker with New Bill
  • West Virginia legalized sports betting in 2018, and now it’s looking into another expansion of gaming in 2019: Online casino and poker.

Michigan:

• The Detroit News, 1.9.19 – Opinion: Despite veto, online gambling still coming
  • As Majority Floor Leader of the Michigan Senate, I, along with the rest of the Michigan legislature, worked hard to help dig Detroit out of what amounted to the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history. 

New Jersey:

• NJ Online Gambling, 1.10.19 – New $11 Million Borgata ‘Sports Wagering Venue’ to Open this Summer
  • Some Atlantic City casinos raced to the starting line to offer sports betting in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling last May that paved the way for states to do so. Others took a more deliberative approach.
• iGaming Business, 1.10.19 – Borgata commits $11m to sportsbook project
  • Atlantic City’s Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa is to invest $11m (£8.6m/€9.5m) in the development of a new sports betting lounge on the property.
• Press of Atlantic City, 1.9.19 – Borgata to start $11 million sports betting bar project
  • The first New Jersey casino to offer sports betting is expanding its space to do so.
• NJ Biz, 1.10.19 – Borgata to build $11M sports betting ‘destination bar’
  • The Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa in Atlantic City will start construction next week on an $11 million sports betting bar, the luxury resort announced Wednesday.
• NJ Gambling Sites, 1.9.19 – Where and How to Bet on the Super Bowl When You’re in New Jersey
  • For the first time, New Jersey will be able to accept legal bets on the Super Bowl. In case you are wondering, this is a big deal.

Pennsylvania:

• The Inquirer, 1.9.19 – Slot machines, fantasy sports, mini-casinos. Where’s Pa. online gaming, a year after legalization
  • Fourteen months after the Pennsylvania legislature approved a massive expansion of consumer gambling options, the new offerings are only now beginning to trickle into the marketplace.
• The Intelligencer, 1.10.19 – Editorial: Parx ups the ante with sports betting
  • In July 2004, then-Gov. Ed Rendell came to Philadelphia Park in Bensalem and signed a law authorizing 61,000 slot machines in Pennsylvania to generate revenue for tax relief and to prop up the state’s flagging horse-racing industry. Detractors gloomily predicted that slots would be just the beginning.
• Penn Bets, 1.9.19 – Casino Regulators to Parx Poker Dealers: Sorry, We Just Don’t Trust You
  • Poker dealers at Parx Casino outside Philadelphia weren’t able to score a victory on Wednesday with the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.

Washington DC:

• Baltimore
  Sun, 1.9.19 – Digest (Jan. 9): Washington game sites could host
  sports betting
  • When
    sports gambling is formally legalized in Washington, fans will have the
    option to place bets in convenience stores, bars, restaurants or from
    their living room couches.
• The
  Washington Post, 1.9.19 – The biggest sportsbooks in D.C. could be at Capital One
  Arena and Nats Park
  • When
    sports gambling is formally legalized in Washington, fans will have the
    option to place bets in convenience stores, bars, restaurants or from
    their living room couches. But the most visible and elaborate betting
    venues could feel familiar to D.C. sports fans: the high-traffic arenas
    and stadiums the city’s professional teams call home.
• BisNow,
  1.9.19 – Sports Bets on Every Corner: How Retailers Could Cash
  in on D.C.’s New Gambling Law
  • Bars,
    event venues and other retailers in D.C. could soon offer sports
    betting inside their walls under a new law the D.C.
    Council passed in December, and everyone from independent entrepreneurs
    to popular D.C. bar owners to MGM Resorts is looking to get in
    on the action. 

New York:

• European
  Gaming, 1.10.19 – Online poker bill introduced in US Senate
  • New
    York Senator Joseph Addabbo has introduced a bill in the senate to
    legalise online poker in the state.

Virginia:

• WAMU,
  1.9.19 – State Taxes, Corporate Incentives, Sports Betting: A
  Look at the 2019 Virginia General Assembly Session
  • Virginia
    lawmakers met in Richmond Wednesday to start the 46-day General Assembly
    session.

Federal updates:

• Reason,
  1.10.19 – The DOJ Shouldn’t Reignite the Fight Against Intrastate
  Gambling
  • The
    government has been shut down for over two weeks and is on track to
    become the longest shutdown in U.S. history. As for how long the current
    standoff between the Trump administration and the Democratic congress is
    going to last, your guess is as good as mine. It’s a gamble for both
    sides. That makes it the perfect time to write a column about gambling.

Sports league
updates:

• ESPN, 1.9.19 – Astros projected to win 97.5 games by Ceasars’ sportsbook
  • With a close eye on impact free agents Bryce Harper and Manny Machado, Caesars Entertainment’s sportsbook started taking bets this week on win totals for the upcoming MLB season.
• US Bets, 1.9.19 – Leagues Continue to Seek a Slice of the Sports Betting Pie in 2019
  • There’s a new name for the portion of the sports betting action that pro sports leagues want state legislatures — or the federal government — to guarantee to the leagues.

Member updates:

• Calvin
  Ayre, 1.10.19 – PokerStars PSPC Report: the giddy life of Daniel
  Negreanu
  • Lee
    Davy sits down with Daniel Negreanu to gauge his thoughts on what’s next
    for the PokerStars Player’s No-Limit Hold’em Championship, what goes into
    a cracking wedding list and much, much more.
• Independent,
  1.10.19 – Smurfit Jnr’s Gan in US expansion with PaddyPower
  Betfair’s FanDuel
  • Dermot
    Smurfit Jr’s Gan has entered a “material” long-term deal with
    the FanDuel Group.

Overall industry
updates:

• US Bets, 1.9.19 – The Long and Tortuous Road of U.S. Online Gambling Expansion
  • Just before Michigan’s legislative session wound down for the year, lawmakers passed a flurry of bills that would, among other things, legalize online poker and virtual casino gambling.
• Huff Post, 1.9.19 – YouTube’s Cool with Monetized Videos Promoting a Gambling Scam to Kids
  • YouTube’s top influencers have cashed in on highly lucrative sponsorship deals to promote an online gambling company to their young fans, and YouTube doesn’t have a problem with it.
• iGaming Business, 1.10.19 – GAN grows US reach with FanDuel contract expansion
  • iGaming platform and software supplier GAN has significantly expanded its US regulated market footprint through a new, expanded contract with long-term partner FanDuel Group.
• Press Release, 1.10.19 – GamblingCompliance: Race to Capitalize on U.S. Sports Betting Set to Continue in 2019
  • The number of U.S. states with legally approved sports betting will more than double in 2019 from 9 to 18 or more as lawmakers capitalize on last year’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturned a federal ban, according to a report published today by GamblingCompliance.
• Las Vegas Now, 1.9.19 – Sports betting summit takes over South Point Hotel
  • The sports betting industry was in the spotlight in Las Vegas on Wednesday.