Spin Cycle: RIP Dave, RI Revenue Report 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 …

Farewell to a betting talk icon

One of the pioneers of bringing sports betting talk to the airwaves, Dave Cokin, died Tuesday at age 71, just five weeks after going public with his cancer diagnosis and announcing his retirement.

A professional handicapper recognizable by his trademark flat cap, Cokin was probably best known for his work on ESPN Radio, where he co-hosted The Las Vegas Sportsline and Cofield and Cokin. He also co-hosted The Pete Rose Show on the Sports Fan Radio Network. Originally from Providence, Rhode Island, Cokin had lived in Vegas since 1987.

He was a two-time winner of Nevada’s Sportscaster of the Year award.

A celebration of Cokin’s life will take place a week from Saturday, Aug. 10, at 7 p.m. at O’Aces Bar & Grill in Las Vegas. It will be open to the public.

Rhode Island still on the rise

Revenue for iGaming in America’s smallest state — and its most recent to add iCasino — keeps ticking upward.

Bally’s has a monopoly in Rhode Island, and its apps earned $1.21 million in the launch month of March, $2.08 million in April, $2.26 million in May, and according to numbers published this week from the Rhode Island Lottery, $2.34 million in June, a 3.5% improvement over the previous month.

Online slots produced the bulk of the revenue in June, a state record $1.76 million, compared to about $575,000 from digital table games.

For the year, Bally’s has now enjoyed $7.88 million in net gaming revenue in Rhode Island. Though the numbers are trending in the right direction, it’s safe to say they’re not make-or-break for a company that last week accepted a $4.6 billion takeover bid.

The meeting before the meeting in Mass

The saga of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission tackling the issue of sportsbooks limiting bettors took the most incremental of steps forward Thursday, when the notoriously deliberate governing body had a meeting to discuss what the next meeting on the topic would look like.

Followers of the industry will recall that the MGC invited the operators to a May roundtable on this topic, and all of them except Bally’s — which hadn’t even launched yet in the Bay State — sat it out. The goal next time is to make sure the operators show up and are willing to speak on the topic. Toward that end, the commissioners on Thursday debated whether a roundtable discussion or a public meeting was the correct forum. Commissioner Eileen O’Brien specifically pushed for the public meeting, since the roundtable opportunity had already been offered and declined.

The MGC is seeking data from each operator on how many customers have their bet sizes limited and insights on why limits are imposed. Interim Chair Jordan Maynard indicated that the discussion may result in actual regulations in Massachusetts regarding limiting.

More information to come at the actual meeting — which, of course, doesn’t have a date yet.

The Shuffle: Other news and views

FEE MONGERING: DraftKings tests elasticity, raises antitrust concerns with proposed surcharge on winning bets

THE OLD BALLY GAME: How Bally’s buyout might affect resort plans for A’s Vegas stadium site

PROPHET MARGINS: Prophet Exchange to return as ProphetX with a sweepstakes model

AD, SUBTRACT: Sports betting ads are out of control. For solutions, look overseas

MASS JOINS THE MOVEMENT: Massachusetts confirms iLottery is on its way after governor signs off on budget

HANDLE WITH CARE: Titus introduces bill in Congress to remove ‘handle tax’ on sports betting

WHO’S REGULATING WHOM?: Schuetz: It is time again to talk about captured gaming regulatory agencies

MAD PROPS: Third Planet Affiliates acquires Props.com from FansUnite

TUBES AND TENTACLES: Light & Wonder unveils innovative Squid Game slot machine at Yaamava’ Casino

NUMBING NUMBERS: Sen. Addabbo’s survey finds just 44% support of NY iGaming

LOTTERY ON THE LOWDOWN: Can you keep a multimillion-dollar secret?

TURNING THE TABLES: How do casinos deal with table game disruptions?

EYES ON THE PRIZE?: PrizePicks rumored to be exploring funding, M&A options

GREEN MOUNTAIN GREEN: Vermont sports betting brings in roughly $3.5M in half a year

ALL-IN MOVE: GGPoker parent company buys World Series of Poker brand from Caesars

NEW KID IN TOWN: Bally Bet dives into Maryland sports betting market

UNEQUAL PAY: Pennsylvania casinos threaten tax freeze over skill games dispute

SLOW START: Connecticut’s new online lottery reportedly underperforming amid technical issues

TRIBES vs LOTTERY: In Oregon, a bid for urban casinos threatens a gambling ‘arms race’

MANAGING EXPECTATIONS: BetMGM warns full-year loss will be bigger than previously expected

RESTRICTED AREAS: Bovada’s U.S. footprint continues to shrink amid regulatory crackdown

KIWIS’ BIG ADVENTURE: New Zealand plans to regulate online casinos from early 2026

CASINOS COMING … SOMEDAY: New York City casino licensing wars — how long will the battle last?

The Bonus Round

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

• Veteran poker pro Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler had a lousy World Series of Poker this year, losing about $200K over the course of the Series. Hey, when the cards aren’t going your way … it’s time to grind a possibly advantageous slot machine! Kessler played a Buffalo Aristocrat slot machine at Thunder Valley Resort & Casino in California for about 12 hours on Monday, burning through about $12,500 of the $15,000 he was came armed with, before he hit a jackpot for $1.21 million ­— more than four times the largest poker tournament win he’s ever scored.

• This week in gaming-and-pop-culture crossover news: Aristocrat announced it is teaming with HBO for a House of the Dragon slot machine, and Games Global has signed a deal to produce WWE-branded slots. No word on a joint deal to combine the two games and offer a bonus round in which Jerry “The King” Lawler sits on the iron throne.

• First Bill Belichick lands a cheerleader girlfriend one-third his age. Then a little upstart fantasy and sports betting outfit lands Bill Belichick. We live in unpredictable times.