Spin Cycle: Prediction Market Madness, Predictable Massachusetts Molasses 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 …

Money and Madness

Now that the NCAA college basketball title tournaments are complete, final data is available on how much money was bet wagered traded at Kalshi.

The total came in at $504.2 million across the men’s and women’s tourneys, which divides into $412.4 million for the men’s and $91.8 million on the women’s side. It’s important to remember, though, that prediction market handle and traditional sports betting handle don’t make for an apples-to-apples comparison, since Kalshi’s figure is a measure of volume, which includes both sides of every transaction, whereas handle measures the amount risked by the bettor(s).

Meanwhile, Prediction News reported that just over $250 million of the money put up on Kalshi — roughly half the action — went to in-game trades. At about 50% of the volume, that’s significantly higher than the estimated 25-30% figure for American online sportsbooks.

It will be interesting to see individual states’ regulated betting handle for March (which will mostly begin rolling in next week) and observe whether the option to use Kalshi and other prediction market sites took a bite out of the books’ action.

Data and deliberation in Massachusetts

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission heard from its sports wagering Division Chief Carrie Torrisi Thursday for an update on the commission’s examination of how and why bettors get limited. The upshot: More time is needed.

Torrisi said the sportsbooks have given the data they requested, but due to the amount of data received, a data analyst is needed to comb through the numbers.

“So at this point we would propose next steps,” Torrisi said. “The first would be working with the data analyst to review the data that has already been submitted by the operators, and then the second would be, on a parallel track, sending a second request to operators seeking answers to a number of specific questions related to both patron limiting and VIP programs.”

Is there an end in sight to this investigation?

“We expect that this information request would lead us to future information and data requests, and that this will be an ongoing process,” Torresi said. The commission approved Torresi’s request.

—Jeff Edelstein

World Series of Vloggers

The start of the 2025 World Series of Poker is about a month and a half away, and the poker community kicked up a minor controversy this week over the second event on the schedule.

Formerly known as the “Casino Employees Event,” what is now called the $500 “Industry Employees No-Limit Hold’em” tournament is open to anyone in the poker media, including, as veteran reporter Kevin Mathers shared, “bloggers, vloggers, streamers, etc.” 

To the surprise of nobody who keeps tabs on Poker Twitter, there were some strong opinions posited. Doug Polk, a top poker pro but also a top internet poker media personality who is now eligible for the event, wrote, “Let Casino/Cardroom employees have their own event.” Wondered pro Shane “Shaniac” Schleger about who is now eligible, “So, anyone who tweets about poker?”

One-time winner of the event Chad Holloway had some fun with the news:

As for me, a former editor of a poker magazine, the author of a poker book, and technically an “industry employee”? Well, if I decide to go to Vegas on May 27 and I lose $500 playing in this thing, I am vehemently opposed. If I win a gold bracelet, then I say thank you, WSOP, for doing the right thing.

House Rules: Insights from around our network

MAUI WOW-EE: Hawaii Senate sends amended sports betting bill back to House [by Jill Dorson]

FIVER FEVER: First Mega Millions drawing at $5 price point generates estimated $25 million in spending [by Eric Raskin]

THE ‘BYE, YOU’ STATE: Louisiana legislator files bill to ban sweepstakes sites — and target related entities [by Chris Altruda]

DO SHOOT THE MIDDLE MAN?: PropSwap CEO details what happened in Eagles Super Bowl bet controversy [by Jeff Edelstein]

SCORE ONE FOR KALSHI: Kalshi stays live with sports markets in Nevada after winning injunction [by Chris Altruda]

SCORE TWO FOR KALSHI: Kalshi enlists industry strategist Slane as it fights to legally offer sports markets [by Eric Raskin]

SCORE ONE AGAINST KALSHI: Maryland fifth state to send cease-and-desist letters to Robinhood, Kalshi, and Crypto.com [by Jeff Edelstein]

DOWN BIG: Study: For men, depression and loneliness could be major markers for potential problem gambling [by Jeff Edelstein]

UTE OUGHTA KNOW: Colorado governor: Tribes trying to ‘undermine’ state with wagering lawsuit [by Jill Dorson]

WINNERS AND HOOSIERS: Indiana lawmakers pass bill prohibiting lottery couriers — with a caveat [by Matthew Bain]

KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE: How your digital life becomes gambling marketing gold [by Jeff Edelstein]

PASPA LIVES!: Wagering lawsuit: PASPA still applies in DC; bettors can sue for losses [by Jill Dorson]

KEYSTONE STATEMENT: After Pennsylvania tells sweeps casinos to cease and desist, SPGA claims ‘regulatory overreach’ [by Eric Raskin]

DID SOMEBODY ORDER A VLT?: Bill to make video lottery terminals legal in Missouri gas stations and bars moves to Senate [by Jeff Edelstein]

Small stakes and hot takes

This week on the Casino Reports podcast Low Rollers, my co-host Jeff Edelstein and I welcomed veteran industry reporter Jill Dorson — a new hire here at Casino Reports — to reflect on what she saw and heard at last week’s IGA conference, particularly in regard to hopes for sports betting legalization in California. Here’s a taste:

We also covered the unexpected developments in Hawaii and Baltimore, all the Kalshi news you can handle, the first $5 Mega Millions draw, and the connection between responsible gambling and reckless use of tariffs. Full episode:

The Shuffle: Other news and views

STRAT-EGIC SHIFT: Another Las Vegas casino adds more ‘player-friendly’ games [Las Vegas Review-Journal]

GOOD DEAL, EH?: Caesars Windsor casino workers ratify new deal [Windsor Star]

PILOT GREEN-LIT: Atlantic County, state reach settlement agreement on casino PILOT lawsuit [Press of Atlantic City]

HOOPS HANDLE: Betting was up in men’s NCAA Tournament and during women’s basketball season [Associated Press]

MARYLAND NUMBERS: Maryland casinos drop 3.4% to $172.1 million in March [CDC Gaming Reports]

DELAWARE NUMBERS: Delaware igaming revenue rises by more than 89% in March [Complete iGaming]

VISITATION DEVASTATION: Nevada’s Cortez Masto sends letter to Trump officials on tourism concerns [Las Vegas Sun]

STAR ME UP: Star accepts AU$300 million takeover bid from Bally’s [iGaming Business]

GAINING YARDS: Hudson Yards West project with proposed casino moves closer to approval [amNY]

ZONING OF INTEREST: Las Vegas Sands wanted a casino in Irving — a new bill could make that process easier [KERA News]

GIVE IT A SPIN: IGT debuts Wheel of Fortune at Downtown Grand Casino [CDC Gaming Reports]

The Bonus Round

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

• Why are casinos always a part of any smoking-ban loophole? Nevada is considering what’s called a “generational ban” to try to steer younger folks away from “combustible tobacco products,” as the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. But there’s a catch. Anyone born after Dec. 31, 2004, won’t be able to buy cigarettes anywhere in Nevada … except … “gaming establishments with a nonrestricted license.” I can’t wait to hear Richard Schuetz’s take on this one …

• Physical sportsbooks inside stadiums and arenas seemed like a fine business idea in the early days post-PASPA. But once people got comfortable betting online, and once most states with legal retail betting realized they should have legal mobile betting too, well, it became not such a fine business idea. As Crain’s Cleveland Business reported, the Fanatics Sportsbook at Progressive Field in Cleveland, where the Guardians play, has been closed, just 20 months after it opened. This comes less than two months after the FanDuel Sportsbook at Audi Field in D.C. closed. So, we are officially on #trendwatch here at Casino Reports.

• You may recall a story from a couple of years ago in which a man with nearly $60,000 worth of old casino chips from Atlantic City’s long-gone Playboy Hotel and Casino was hoping to redeem the chips for money. Well, an appellate court has told him he’s out of luck, as the chips — which he bought at auction — were “pilfered” by an employee of the company that had been tasked with destroying the chips. It seems those Playboy chips have aged about as well as [insert name of your favorite centerfold of the 1980s here].