Spoiler alert: it’s not that easy. This is why many casinos close up shop. Sure, the betting odds might be in their favor, but not even that is enough to save their business fortunes.

Just ask Maverick Gaming. This casino operator is in the process of going bankrupt. The company filed for Chapter 11 protection in Texas this week, listing between $100 million and $500 million in assets and liabilities.

Why do we bring them up here? Because Maverick had ties to Washington betting — and it’s where their struggles mostly stem from. As part of the bankruptcy, they are closing down four casinos in the state: Dragon Tiger Casino in Mountlake Terrace, Palace Casino in Lakewood, Silver Dollar in Renton, and Roman Casino in Seattle.

The move comes less than a year after Maverick restructured its debt to buy more time with lenders. That deal gave them fresh cash, a two-year extension, and even allowed “payment-in-kind” interest for a stretch, meaning they could pay lenders with more debt instead of cash. But that grace period ended earlier this year. With cash interest payments due and operating costs still high, the company’s “hand was forced”, hence the bankruptcy decision.

The saga ends a long-standing feud with the state of Washington. In case you forgot, here’s how we got here in the first place:

Years of Bad Blood with the State

Maverick’s bankruptcy didn’t happen in a vacuum. The company has been butting heads with Washington regulators and lawmakers for years over what CEO Eric Persson calls an uneven playing field. Under state law, only Native American tribes can offer sports betting and physical casinos must be located on tribal land. Card rooms like Maverick’s can offer poker and certain table games, but that’s where their privileges end.

Persson had repeatedly argued that this exclusivity keeps card rooms boxed in while giving tribes a guaranteed monopoly on the most lucrative forms of gambling. He went after the state gambling commission directly, even accusing members of conflicts of interest and calling out what he saw as double standard in enforcement. One example he harped on: players banned from card rooms through the self-exclusion program can still gamble freely at tribal casinos.

In 2022, Maverick took that fight to court, suing over the tribal sports betting monopoly. That case didn’t go anywhere — a federal judge tossed it — but it underscored how far the company was willing to go to change the law AND save their business in the process.

The Last Big Confrontation

If you follow the Washington gaming scene, you probably remember Maverick’s appearance before the state gambling commission last spring. In retrospect, it was sort of a final Hail Mary — one that went incomplete (if not an outright interception).

So Persson showed up with a group of other card room operators, all ready to unload their grievances. They accused the commission of favoritism, pointed to the drop in card rooms statewide (from about 100 two decades ago to fewer than 40 today), and warned that the system was slowly killing off non-tribal operators.

Persson, never one to hold back, even named two commissioners — Anders Ibsen and Michael Charles — who he said had financial or political ties to tribes. He argued that those connections made it impossible for them to rule impartially on matters that affected Maverick’s business.

The commission didn’t exactly roll over. Vice Chair Sarah Lawson told Persson and the others to take their complaints to the governor if they wanted real change. That was a telling moment because Governor Jay Inslee has shown little interest in challenging the current tribal gaming model.

So it’s zero surprise Maverick ended up where it did after that failed Hail Mary. With business dwindling and politicians not budging, there was nothing left for Maverick to do but throw in the towel.

Where Maverick Stands Now

The bankruptcy filing doesn’t mean Maverick is done for good — only in Washington. This company still has other establishments in less strict states.

The company owns five properties in Nevada, including the Wendover Nugget Hotel & Casino and Red Garter Hotel & Casino in West Wendover, as well as the Maverick Casino & Hotel Elko, Gold Country Casino, and High Desert Inn in Elko. It also has properties in Colorado. None of those have announced closures yet, but the bankruptcy filing leaves the door open to changes if the restructuring process doesn’t go smoothly.

For now, Maverick will try to reorganize and keep its doors open in as many markets as possible. But in Washington — where the politics haven’t moved an inch in their favor — the bankruptcy marks the end of any serious push to change the rules. Pour one out for Maverick Gaming in the state, folks!

The post Washington Casino Operator Files For Bankruptcy appeared first on My Top Sportsbooks.

Unfortunately, the fans living in the home state can’t legally bet sports. That’s because South Carolina is one of only 11 states in the country without legal sports betting at all. No mobile betting apps. No casinos. Nothing.

Year after year, lawmakers floated South Carolina betting bills to change that, and year after year, the state slams the door shut — usually because Governor Henry McMaster won’t even entertain the conversation.

But… South Carolina-based bettors might be in luck this year. There’s a loophole that will allow them to bet college football and any other sport. What’s that loophole? Something called prediction markets. Keep on reading and we’ll tell you what’s developing!

The Fast Rise of Prediction Markets

By now, you’ve heard about prediction markets, right? You ought to have because they’re seemingly everywhere! In case you somehow haven’t, prediction markets let people buy and sell shares in real-world outcomes. Think “Will the Clemson win the College Football Playoff?” or “Will the Yankees finish with more than 95 wins?” Instead of placing a traditional bet, you’re trading event contracts — like a mini stock market for sports, politics, and everything else under the sun.

These markets operate under a different set of rules than traditional sportsbooks. In most cases, they’re federally regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), not by state gambling boards. That distinction is key. It means prediction markets can often serve customers in states where sports betting is technically illegal — that’s you, South Carolina!

Kalshi is the poster child for this movement. They launched in 2018 with a focus on politics and economics, but since expanding into sports earlier this year, the platform has exploded. They reported $130 million in volume on Game 7 of the NBA Finals alone, and sports contracts now dominate their platform. Kalshi is also fresh off a $185 million raise that valued the company at $2 billion — and they’ve made it clear that football season is their next big play.

DraftKings is watching closely. The second-largest sportsbook in America is eyeing a way into prediction markets too. They’ve been linked to acquiring Railbird, a CFTC-approved prediction market founded by two former Wall Street analysts. Railbird isn’t live yet, but it already has regulatory approval to operate in all 50 states. If DraftKings acquires them, it’d give them instant access to states like South Carolina — without waiting for lawmakers to legalize anything.

South Carolina’s Backdoor Entrance to Betting

If the courts continue to side with Kalshi — or at the very least continue punting on the issue — then South Carolina bettors will be covered all Fall football season.

Of course, the reality is, South Carolinians already bet. A lot? Offshore sportsbooks continue to thrive inside the state. Anyone with an internet connection and a few dollars to spare can go wager on football from their couch. Though, some bettors get scared off by the offshore nature of those sites.

Prediction markets remove those worries. Again, they are quasi-legal and semi-regulated. It’s not a perfect solution, but it’s a very real one. And given how stubborn South Carolina’s legislature has been, it might be the only path forward for the foreseeable future.

Lawmakers in the state have tried. The Sports Wagering Act had bipartisan support, a reasonable tax rate, and polling that showed 70 percent of voters wanted legalization. But McMaster wouldn’t budge. So even if a bill passes, it’s likely to die on his desk — and no one expects the legislature to override him.

Meanwhile, just across the border, North Carolina is raking in millions off their legal marketplace. They launched online betting in March 2024, and in little over a year, they’ve pulled in over $100 million in tax revenue. One proposed tax hike could push that number even higher. You don’t think South Carolina lawmakers notice that? Of course they do. They just can’t get past their own politics to act on it.

That’s why prediction markets are so interesting. They skip all of that. They offer a way for the market to move forward without needing politicians to play catch-up.

What Should South Carolinians Do?

So if you’re a local and itching to bet on football this year — what do you do? For starters, rid yourself of any hopes of getting a bill passed. The lawmakers have shown their true colors here, and legalization is a pipe dream at this point.

Instead, go where the momentum is. Prediction markets are here, they’re federally cleared, and they’re growing fast. Kalshi is already live and running, and DraftKings could be next if it lands Railbird. These platforms don’t care what South Carolina politicians think — and they don’t need their permission to operate. That’s the angle. That’s the workaround. And for South Carolina bettors, it might be the closest thing to a legal bet for years to come.

So yes, we recommend getting your betting fix at these prediction markets. Trust us, bets for the Tigers and Gamecocks will be plenty on the platforms this year.

The post South Carolina Bettors Have Backdoor To Bet This Football Season appeared first on My Top Sportsbooks.

That’s because the Sooners struggled in 2024, its first year in the SEC. They went 6-7 under head coach Brent Venables, the second time that’s happened in three years at the helm. So for better or worse, Venables is on the proverbial hot seat this year. All eyes also on quarterback John Mateer, who transferred over from Washington State. Can he help resurrect the Sooners program?

Every OU fan has an opinion. Some good, some bad, but everyone has something to say. The issue is some want to turn that opinion into a bet, but can’t inside the state. That’s because Oklahoma sports betting is STILL not a thing. The state is one of 11 in the country without any form of legalized sports betting.

So does that mean Sooners fans living inside the state are out of luck this season betting-wise? Not even close. There’s more than one way to get action in-state, and we’re listing them all for you right here! Keep reading so you don’t miss out this football season.

Option 1: Cross the Border to Bet

Oklahoma might be dragging its feet, but its neighbors aren’t all in the same boat. If you’re up north — say, near Bartlesville or Miami — your best play is hopping over into Kansas. The Sunflower State has mobile app betting so all it takes is crossing the state line for your sportsbook app to start working. Sign up, deposit, bet the Sooners, and head home to watch.

If you’re on the eastern side of the state, Arkansas is another legal option. They’ve got statewide mobile betting too, and plenty of books to choose from. Don’t go to Missouri, though, at least not til December. That’s when they will officially launch their industry — yes, ahead of Oklahoma here.

Down south, Texas is another no-go zone, but Louisiana is wide open. If you’re anywhere in the southeastern corner of Oklahoma, you can hit the Louisiana border, place your bets on popular betting apps, and be back before kickoff.

The catch here is obvious: unless you live right on the border, you’re spending time and gas money to make this happen. That’s fine if you’re betting big or making a weekend of it, but for most people, it’s just not feasible. That’s why these next two options are likely better.

Option 2: Bet Offshore

The easiest solution of all? Offshore sportsbooks. Sites like Bovada, BetOnline, MyBookie, and XBet have been serving U.S. bettors for years, and Oklahoma players are no exception. They’re not regulated by any US state, but they are licensed in their home countries — places like Antigua or Costa Rica — and operate completely online.

Oklahoma doesn’t have a law banning individuals from using offshore sportsbooks so you’re not breaking any state rules by betting there. Stick to trusted names, and you’ll find they’re just as easy to use as DraftKings or FanDuel — with full odds on college football, player props, live betting, and so on.

A lot of these sites also sweeten the deal with big sign-up bonuses this time of year. We’re talking offers that go as high as $2500 in free play. Just imagine how much Sooners betting you can do for free with that type of money…

Option 3: Prediction Markets — The New Backdoor

If you haven’t heard of prediction markets yet, you’re about to. They work like a mini stock exchange for real-world outcomes. Instead of “betting” in the traditional sense, you’re buying and selling shares of events.

Because they’re overseen by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission instead of state gambling regulators, prediction markets can often operate in places where sportsbooks can’t — including Oklahoma. That legal gray area is what makes them so interesting right now. You don’t need to cross a border or sneak onto an offshore site. As long as the platform has CFTC approval, you can log in from home and start trading outcomes just like you would any other asset.

We recommend Kalshi — the leader in the United States. They launched sports contracts this year, and it’s been a huge boon to the business. The company has signaled they’re going all in on football betting so expect OU on there all season long.

Option 4: Wait on Politicians (Good Luck)

Of course, you could always wait for Oklahoma to get its act together — but history says you’ll be waiting a while.

The state has flirted with sports betting for years, but sputters each time. We’ve written ad nauseam about this, but the problem is Governor Kevin Stitt and local Native American tribes (who run the state’s casino) hate each other’s guts. This is a blood feud that won’t be solved until Stitt leaves office at the end of 2026.

So yeah — if you want to bet the Sooners this season, your options are clear. Drive across the border, go offshore, or try out a prediction market. Thankfully, each can work quite effectively.

The post How To Bet Sooners Football This Season In Oklahoma appeared first on My Top Sportsbooks.

No one expected the state of Georgia to be first, not when it’s historically been very conservative. But at the same time, few would’ve predicted that seven years later, it would be one of 11 states without any form of legal sports betting. Heck, the state is still holding out on casino gambling too.

That’s why the news coming out Georgia is shocking: lawmakers are “studying” the legalization of it — both in sports and casino form. There’s an entire committee dedicated to this, called the House Study Committee on Gaming in the State of Georgia. It met at the tail-end of July to discuss the matter.

It’s believed the committee will meet all fall when NFL betting — and all the revenue that comes from it — is in peak form. The idea is they’ll draw some hard conclusions and be ready to move the issue forward come the 2026 legislative session. Whether that does or doesn’t happen remains to be seen, but honestly, just the fact there’s a committee and there’s discussions this early means something. Let’s examine what’s going on and the issue at-hand.

Casinos Dominate the Early Conversation

Much of the chatter during the committee’s first meeting revolved around the possibility of destination-style casinos in Georgia — a shift that would require not just legislative action, but also a constitutional amendment.

Of course, this is not the first time this has been floated. In the years past, there was a bill kicked around that would’ve brought six casinos to the state. The bill never passed, but it did gain some ground early on.

EchoPark Speedway President Ed Clark made headlines by saying his group is ready to build a resort casino near Atlanta Motor Speedway if the state gives them the green light. That’s an obvious move, isn’t? There’s certainly plenty of room to build something big in that part of the city, not like downtown, which is already crowded.

Sports Betting Is In Background (For Now)

While casino gambling garnered the early discussion, we do expect sports betting to get some love sooner rather than later. If done right, this is the bigger opportunity for tax dollars. Across the country, legal sports betting — if done via online apps — blows casinos out of the water.

Rep. Marcus Wiedower, who’s been one of the few consistent voices pushing for regulation, made it clear that his focus is on giving structure to an industry that already exists in the shadows. What he’s referring to is, of course, offshore betting. These sites thrive in Georgia cause they work perfectly fine — all while not paying any taxes to the state.

Wiedower, however, would also be referring to prediction markets. In the last year, sites like Polymarket and Kalshi, have caught fire. Like offshore sites, they work perfectly fine in non-legalized states such as Georgia.

The point is: people in Georgia are betting. That’s why Wiedower wants to regulate it and help the state get something instead of nothing. Earlier this year, Wiedower sponsored a bill that would’ve created an entire system for sports betting in Georgia, including 16 licenses and a so-so 24-percent tax rate. Alongside it, he filed a resolution to put the issue to a public vote via constitutional amendment — because in Georgia, that’s what it takes.

That amendment is still alive going into the 2026 session, but here’s the catch: even if everything goes perfectly from here, voters wouldn’t get to weigh in until November 2026 at the earliest. So don’t expect a legal betting market to launch before 2027. That’s a long way off in an industry that moves at warp speed elsewhere.

A Divided Legislature Can’t Close the Deal

This is far from Georgia’s first run at sports betting. Year after year, some version of a legalization bill gets kicked around. Sometimes it gets through one chamber. Sometimes it fizzles out before the crossover deadline like it did this past March. The result is always the same: nothing.

The main problem? Lack of unity among lawmakers. Some want mobile-only betting. Others insist on pairing it with brick-and-mortar casinos or horse racing. Some want to route revenue to education. Others want it to shore up health care. The disagreements pile up, and eventually the whole thing collapses under its own weight.

And it’s not just the lawmakers who are split — the chambers are too. The House and Senate have never been on the same page, and until they are, any real progress is unlikely.

Voters Are Already On Board

You know who’s not divided though? Georgia voters. There’s multiple data points showing they’re on board with betting.

For one, a University of Georgia survey found that 63 percent of voters support sports betting legalization. Even more telling: GeoComply reported a 101 percent year-over-year increase in Georgia-based accounts trying to access legal sportsbooks during the 2024 NFL season.

And that’s the part lawmakers can’t afford to ignore anymore. The demand is there. The tax money potential is there. And now, with a study committee actively meeting, the political will might finally be catching up. We will have to see…

The post Georgia Lawmakers Getting Serious About Legalized Betting appeared first on My Top Sportsbooks.

But… as Seahawks football is only weeks away, bettors in the state might have a better option this football season. An option they can legally do and from the comfort of their home. We’re talking about prediction markets!

Prediction markets let users buy and sell shares of real-world outcomes — sports, politics, economy, and a host of other things. Technically, they aren’t classified the same way as sportsbooks, which means they can often operate in states where sports betting is outright banned or heavily restricted as it is in Washington. Allow us to explain this new trend.

Kalshi Is Leading the Charge

Kalshi has quickly become the face of the modern prediction market boom. The company was founded in 2018 and originally focused on political and economic questions. But early this year, Kalshi dove into sports, and that’s when everything took off.

In just a few months, NBA contracts became Kalshi’s bread and butter. Of the platform’s 51 most-traded contracts ever, 50 are NBA-related. The 2025 NBA Finals alone saw over $130 million in volume, with Game 7 accounting for more than 90 percent of the day’s activity on Kalshi.

Capitalizing on this momentum, Kalshi just raised a massive $185 million in a funding round that values the company at $2 billion. Kalshi’s CEO Tarek Mansour says the pivot toward sports betting is what’s driving the company’s growth, which means one thing: they’re going to double down on it come football season.

But Kalshi’s rise hasn’t come without legal challenges. Seven states — including Nevada, New Jersey, and Maryland — have issued cease-and-desist orders, accusing Kalshi of offering unlicensed sports betting. Kalshi’s rebuttal is that it’s federally regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), not state gambling boards. So far, it’s won temporary court victories that let it keep operating.

The state of Washington hasn’t weighed in yet, but if the feds don’t step in, Kalshi has a wide-open market here, where traditional sports betting is still frustratingly out of reach.

More Momentum In Prediction Market Space

Kalshi may be the most visible player in the prediction market space, but it’s far from the only one picking up steam. Other major players are circling — including both crypto-native platforms and traditional sportsbook giants trying to sneak in through the side door.

Polymarket, Kalshi’s top rival, is reportedly raising $200 million in a round that would value it at over $1 billion. Led by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, Polymarket uses crypto and blockchain to run its business. While Polymarket doesn’t currently serve U.S. customers due to a 2022 settlement with the CFTC, the momentum around its growth — and its recent partnership with X (formerly Twitter) — has many wondering if a return is inevitable. Especially with a more crypto-friendly administration in place, some see Polymarket as one court decision away from a national breakout.

Meanwhile, DraftKings — the number two sportsbook in America — is also maneuvering into the prediction space. After pulling its own application to launch a federally regulated platform called DraftKings Predict, the company is now rumored to be acquiring Railbird, a CFTC-approved event market startup founded by two former Point72 analysts.

Railbird isn’t live yet, but it already has federal approval to operate nationwide, which means no need for individual state licenses. If DraftKings closes the deal, it would instantly give them access to all 50 states, including locked-down markets like Washington (DK has a physical sportsbook, but no online presence). This move would be a backdoor entrance for DraftKings, bypassing Washington’s strict sports betting laws and offering a product that looks and feels like betting — just under a different legal definition.

Washington’s Betting Restrictions Are Still Stuck in the Past

The state was actually quite early to legal sports betting. It legalized it in 2020, only two years after the landmark Supreme Court ruling. However, the in-person-only restrictions on it have put a lid on the industry. That’s left most bettors either driving long distances, betting offshore, or ignoring the market altogether. Efforts to legalize statewide mobile betting have failed to gain traction in the legislature, largely due to resistance from tribal gaming interests that want to protect their exclusivity.

And remember, Washington is known for its diehard sports fans. Not just the 12th man with the Seahawks, but this is a state that’s also big into its soccer teams and the Mariners too. So if betting were more available, this could be a sneaky-strong market. Platforms like Kalshi and Railbird (once it’s fully live, with or without DraftKings) could fill the gap that exists in Washington.

For the average Washington bettor, it means relief may finally be on the way — not through a big vote or legislative breakthrough, but through a technical loophole that’s opening doors far faster than lawmakers ever could.

The post Washington Bettors May Soon Get an Easier Way to Wager appeared first on My Top Sportsbooks.

But Resorts World isn’t backing down. In fact, they’re throwing a Hail Mary to convince New York betting officials they deserve a shot at a commercial casino in Queens. With a $5.5 billion expansion plan and high-powered political allies, the Genting-owned company is looking to flip the narrative — and quickly.

This is the (attempted) comeback story of a gaming brand trying to clean up a messy year and reestablish itself as a frontrunner in the next great American casino race. Let’s dig into the details.

Resorts World Bet Exits New York Sports Betting

Alright, every good comeback story begins with the bad, and that’s where we start too. Let’s talk about that other exit in New York. The Resorts World sportsbook was one of the original nine that launched with the New York market in January 2022. Welp, it’s now the third of those nine to throw in the towel (WynnBet and PointsBet also sputtered out).

Resorts World Bet simply never found its footing in the Empire State. The sportsbook took in just $263 million in wagers through May 2025 — a sliver of the state’s total online handle, which is the nation’s best. In May alone, Resorts World pulled in just $769,000 in gross gaming revenue. For comparison, FanDuel did $108 million that same month.

Las Vegas Fine Casts Shadow

Now this issue is the real low point. Low because it’s way more visible than a lightly-used app in New York. Earlier this year, Resorts World Las Vegas was fined $10.5 million this for anti-money laundering failures — the second-largest fine ever levied by Nevada gaming regulators.

At the center of the scandal was a cast of unsavory characters, including Matt Bowyer, an illegal bookie tied to the Shohei Ohtani interpreter betting saga. Bowyer allegedly operated freely at Resorts World Las Vegas despite his known history. The resort even hired his wife as a personal host. Former president Scott Sibella, who allowed it all to happen, had his gaming license revoked. His replacement, Alex Dixon, lasted just a few months before being fired and demoted in May.

These issues haven’t gone unnoticed in New York. Brian O’Dwyer, chair of the New York State Gaming Commission, called the allegations “particularly disturbing” and said they pointed to “a culture of non-compliance.” That kind of baggage is hard to shake, especially when you’re trying to win political support for a new license.

The Big Bet in Queens

Despite the headwinds, Resorts World is going all-in on its Queens casino pitch. The company already operates Resorts World New York City at Aqueduct, a video lottery terminal facility. If granted a full license, that racino would expand into a massive commercial casino with full table games, thousands more slots, and a slate of new amenities.

The community advisory process began in July, and Resorts World came out swinging. Their pitch is simple: no one can match our size, location, or tax contributions. They’ve already paid $4.5 billion in taxes to the state since 2011. With a full license, they’re projecting $2.2 billion in annual revenue and up to $1 billion in yearly tax payments by 2027. Pitching politicians with a promise of paying more taxes? It’s genius, really.

Resorts World also has a major speed advantage. The property is already built. The infrastructure is in place. And if they get the green light, they say they can be operational by July 2026 — a full year ahead of rival bidder MGM Empire City in Yonkers.

Speaking of competitors, one of the flashiest bids comes from Caesars, which is eyeing a Times Square casino with rapper Jay-Z as its public face. In a not-so-subtle twist, Resorts World played a pre-recorded video from Nas during their Queens presentation. Our hip-hop heads know that Nas and Jay-Z were locked in one of rap’s most iconic feuds back in the day. While their bad blood has dissipated, it’s still ironic their names now headline rival casino bids in the city that made them famous.

A Risky But Calculated Push

Resorts World’s bid checks all the political boxes — tax base, labor support, and development speed. But they’re also dragging baggage. The Las Vegas scandal is serious. The sportsbook failure doesn’t help. And there are still plenty of unanswered questions about corporate culture and compliance oversight.

Still, if there’s one thing Genting understands, it’s the long game. Their executives talked about gaming in global terms — about transforming Queens into something that can rival Singapore or Macau. They’ve already invested heavily in New York. Now they’re asking the state to double down with them.

For Resorts World, this feels like a make-or-break moment. The sportsbook is gone. The stained reputation in Vegas isn’t going away anytime soon. But the Queens casino bid? That’s the comeback play — and they’re betting everything on it.

The post Resorts World In “Comeback Mode” In New York appeared first on My Top Sportsbooks.

This tax, a first of its kind, has became a talking point acorss the legal sports betting market, well beyond Illinois. Here’s how it works (in case you’ve been living under a rock): sportsbooks will be charged 25 cents for every wager placed up to the first 20 million bets in a calendar year. Once they cross that threshold, the fee doubles to 50 cents per bet. It might seem like a rounding error, but it easily adds up to millions of dollars of new fees.

You might think that’s chump change to the top mobile betting apps, but you’d be mistaken. Sports betting is not a high-margin business. Most sportsbooks are happy with a 10-percent hold on bets. Now factor in marketing costs, this new fee, plus the regular taxes they owe to Illinois, and they’re getting squeezed even more.

And remember, last year, Illinois scrapped its flat 15 percent tax on sports betting revenue and replaced it with a tiered system that climbs as high as 40 percent for the top sportsbooks. That change alone catapulted Illinois into the ranks of the highest-tax states for sports betting, even before the new per-bet fee was introduced. For operators at the top, it’s now one of the most expensive places in the country to do business in.

As you can imagine, Illinois sportsbooks are not happy in the slightest. We’re now starting to see them come out with counterpolicies to minimize the effects. In this article, we’re going to lay out what they’ve done (so far). We expect more to respond, so this article could look very different a few months from now.

BetMGM, Hard Rock Bet Fire Back

BetMGM and Hard Rock Bet are on the offensive in Illinois. Both are now enforcing minimum wager thresholds for all bets placed in Illinois. Starting now, BetMGM customers must stake at least $2.50 on every wager — whether it’s a straight bet, parlay, prop, whatever it is. The company notified users of the change earlier in July so no more $1 hail-Mary parlays. Womp womp wom.

Hard Rock Bet followed suit with a slightly lower $2 minimum, but the same rule applies across all bet types. They’re a relatively new entrant into the Illinois sportsbooks betting market, but that didn’t stop them from fighting back.

Obviously, these policies are designed to offset the per-bet fee. If you’re getting charged 25–50 cents per wager, you can’t afford a flood of $1 bets eating into already thin margins. We would expect most sportsbooks to have a similar policy in the state — it doesn’t make sense NOT to do this.

Top Sportsbooks Took A Different Approach

BetMGM and Hard Rock Bet are solid operators, but make no mistake about it, they’re in that second tier of betting apps. In tier 1? The undisputed leaders, FanDuel and DraftKings. Both are being more aggressive to combat Illinois’ new taxes.

FanDuel was the first to strike. Instead of setting a minimum wager, FanDuel announced a flat $0.50 fee per bet in Illinois, effective September 1. DraftKings followed shortly after with the same move. It’s no coincidence — these are the only two operators in Illinois that actually clear the 20 million bets-per-year threshold the state set. That means they’re the ones paying the full weight of the new per-bet tax.

Both companies made it clear: this isn’t a cash grab. It’s a direct response to the one-two punch of Illinois tax hikes in back-to-back years. First, the revenue-based jump to 40 percent — which nearly tripled their tax liability — and now the per-bet fee. In statements, both said they’ll drop the surcharge if the state reverses course (though that seems unlikely at this point).

Fanatics Sportsbook followed suit too. They’re rolling out a $0.25 per-bet fee for Illinois customers — half of what FanDuel and DraftKings are charging. Why the difference? Most likely because Fanatics doesn’t expect to crack the 20 million bet threshold. It’s a preemptive move, not a defensive one.

Will There Be More Fallout?

As of this writing, the remaining sportsbook operators in Illinois — Caesars, bet365, BetRivers, Circa, and ESPN Bet — haven’t announced any minimum bets or per-wager fees yet. That said, we’d bet that doesn’t last long. Odds are they’re watching how the first wave of responses plays out since we’re barely in month 1 anyway. Expect them to adopt similar tactics once it’s crystal clear on what’s more effective: wager minimums or surcharges per bet.

What happens next comes down to a balancing act: operators trying to protect profitability, bettors pushing back against rising costs, and regulators watching the impact on the legal market. Illinois has already set a new bar for aggressive taxation. If more sportsbooks start quietly passing fees on, the average bettor could wake up to a fundamentally different wagering landscape — not just in this state, but across the country.

Ultimately, Illinois’s experiment isn’t just changing how operators react — it’s reshaping the entire betting ecosystem. And for everyone involved, the fallout is just getting started.

The post More States Respond To Illinois Sports Betting Tax appeared first on My Top Sportsbooks.

That’s right, the latter flew completely under the radar to 99 percent of the population. But to the rest of us who legally bet sports and casino? This has massive ramifications for the industry we cherish.

You see, tucked into the 900-page behemoth of domestic policy, is a new policy that will no longer allow bettors to fully deduct losses from winnings on their federal taxes. Instead of writing off 100 percent of gambling losses, that number drops to 90 percent.

That might sound like a minor tweak, but it’s not. As an example, if a bettor wins $100,000 and loses $100,000, they would still owe taxes on $10,000 of “phantom” income. That’s income they never actually profited from, but the IRS will treat it as taxable under the new rule. And just like that, the math behind betting — especially for high-volume or professional players — starts to break down. This is an existential threat to pro betting in Las Vegas and across the country really. Let’s break it down below!

How The Bill Hits Bettors Hard

The provision slipped into the bill by Senate Republicans wasn’t publicly debated, and many lawmakers claim they didn’t even realize it was included. Sen. Chuck Grassley, a Republican on the Finance Committee, said he had no idea how it got in. Still, it passed both chambers and was signed into law by President Trump on Independence Day without any amendments or carve-outs for the gambling industry.

For the average taxpayer, this might seem like a non-issue and it is since they aren’t affected. But for serious gamblers — the ones who bet professionally or at scale — it could fundamentally change how they play. Gambling losses have been fully deductible since 1934 under the Revenue Act. This new law effectively rewrites 90 years of tax precedent in one fell swoop.

The Joint Committee on Taxation projects the new deduction cap will raise about $1.1 billion over the next decade. But those dollars are being pulled directly from bettors, not casinos or operators. Unlike business taxes or licensing fees, this one hits individual gamblers on their personal returns — and it’s already facing significant backlash.

Professional poker player Phil Galfond said the bill could “end professional gambling in the U.S.” entirely. He pointed out that in some scenarios, gamblers could end up paying more in taxes than they actually win. That sentiment has spread quickly across the gambling world, from DFS sharps to sports betting app users. The economics of professional betting (an already thin-margin endeavor) simply don’t work when you’re taxed on your losses.

What Nevada Lawmakers Are Doing to Fight Back

Not surprisingly, Nevada — where most of these pros live and operate out of — is leading the charge to undo the change. Nevada Rep. Dina Titus, who co-chairs the Congressional Gaming Caucus, introduced a bill to reverse the deduction cap. It’s called the FAIR BET Act — short for Fair Accounting for Income Realized from Betting Earnings Taxation.

Titus’s bill would strike the new 90 percent language and restore the previous 100 percent deduction standard. She said the gambling tax hike was inserted without House approval and “imposed a tax increase on Americans who gamble.” Titus also warned that forcing gamblers to pay taxes on money they didn’t actually win would halt legal betting, or even more, push players into offshore betting sites.

Joining her on the bill is Rep. Ro Khanna from California, and the FAIR BET Act now heads to the House Ways and Means Committee. Whether it gets serious traction is still unclear though.

Where Bettors Go From Here

Unless Congress moves quickly, the deduction cap is set to take effect in 2026. That gives bettors a little over a year to figure out how to navigate the new reality — but many are already drawing conclusions. Some will likely reduce their betting to avoid hitting the deduction cap, especially if they regularly bet close to break-even. Others may quietly stop reporting gambling activity altogether or begin using offshore sportsbooks to protect their margins.

The concern isn’t just about taxes — it’s about trust. Bettors are being asked to play by the rules, report everything, and use legal platforms. But when those same systems suddenly change the rules mid-game and make players pay taxes on income they never earned, it’s not hard to see why some would choose to walk away entirely.

The American Gaming Association estimates around 700,000 taxpayers claim the gambling deduction each year. Many are high-stakes players who also deduct expenses related to travel (to Vegas mainly), lodging, and tournament fees. Losing that full deduction doesn’t just hit their taxes — it changes how much they’re willing to risk, where they’re willing to do it, and whether it’s even worth it anymore.

There’s also the state-level impact. Nevada, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania depend heavily on gambling-related tourism and revenue. If high-volume bettors cut back, that will eventually ripple through casinos, resorts, and hospitality jobs. Dealers, servers, and hotel staff could feel the squeeze too — the very workers Trump promised to protect by eliminating taxes on tips.

For now, the best hope lies with Titus’s FAIR BET Act. But as of today, it’s just a proposal. Unless it picks up steam fast, the new gambling tax will go into effect as planned — and American bettors will be left to foot the bill.

The post Pro Bettors Facing Existential Crisis appeared first on My Top Sportsbooks.

In the meantime, the state is setting up the legal sports betting market from scratch. The biggest order of business? Handing out licenses to sportsbooks and/or pure-play mobile betting apps. In that regard, we have some updates to pass along. Keep on reading and we’ll tell you exactly what’s going on in the Show-Me State!

Untethered License Is Golden Goose

Missouri has different types of licenses, but the “kingmaker” one is the untethered license. As the name suggests, this license is not tied to a Missouri sports team or casino like other licenses (more on that soon). More than flexibility, untethered licenses also means no revenue share with other state operators. So yes, profits will be higher with this license than not.

There are only two of these licenses available. Three applicants came in before the deadline passed earlier this July. In the running are DraftKings, FanDuel, and Circa Sports. The Missouri Gaming Commission confirmed this week that all three operators submitted applications before the July 15 deadline.

DraftKings and FanDuel applying was expected. They’ve both been active in the state for months, having spent over $40 million combined to help pass last year’s ballot initiative that legalized sports betting by less than 1 percent in the statewide vote. They are also the two biggest operators by market share in the country so this is business as usual.

Circa, on the other hand, is a bit more surprising. The Las Vegas-based operator is well-known among sharp bettors, but doesn’t yet have the same national reach as its two much larger competitors. Still, it’s a bold move that signals Circa is ready to expand beyond its niche.

These three will have to wait until August 15 to find out which two are getting approved. The Missouri Gaming Commission will host a public hearing on August 13 before making final decisions.

For the “odd man out”, which let’s face it, everyone fully expects it to be Circa, they have other entry ways into the sportsbook betting market. Allow us to explain Missouri’s licensing tiers.

Missouri Licenses Explained

Missouri’s overall licensing structure is loose. For Circa or other small-time sportsbooks, that means several ways to enter besides the ultra-limited untethered route. Licenses can be had by partnerning with an in-state riverboat casino or professional sports team. There are 13 riverboat casinos in Missouri, plus six professional sports teams. That adds up to 19 partnership-based licenses on top of the two untethered ones.

So far, a few key deals have been announced. BetMGM partnered with Century Casinos, giving them access through two properties: Century Casino Cape Girardeau and Century Casino Caruthersville.

Bet365 locked in a deal with the St. Louis Cardinals — a major grab considering the visibility and loyalty of the Cardinals’ fanbase. That partnership also includes naming rights for a VIP area in Busch Stadium.

Underdog is the only other sportsbook that’s come out and said they want in somehow, someway. Though, no word on who they want to partner with.

More Upcoming Deadlines

The clock is ticking. Applications for partnership-based licenses are due September 12. That leaves less than two months for operators to secure their spot in the newest betting market. Expect announcements to start rolling in soon. Big names like Caesars, Fanatics, and Penn Entertainment are all likely to enter the market — probably through their respective casino or team connections.

In fact, many of the state’s casinos already have existing relationships that could make the process turnkey. Harrah’s and Isle of Capri are owned by Caesars. Penn runs Argosy, River City, and Hollywood Casino. Bally’s and Boyd also have strong presences in Missouri. If those brands go the obvious route, we could see ESPN Bet, Caesars Sportsbook, and Bally Bet all join the Missouri lineup before long.

Elsewhere, the formal rulemaking process wraps up on August 30, which is when all the sports betting regulations officially go into effect. Unfortunately, earlier attempts to expedite things didn’t go anywhere. Secretary of State Denny Hoskins rejected emergency rule requests back in February, which could’ve allowed sportsbooks to launch by summer. That left everyone stuck waiting for the December 1 legal launch date.

So yes, Missouri is entering the game late — missing most of the NFL season, including the massive September-November window that drives the bulk of betting activity. Still, they’ll be live in time for the NFL playoffs and the heart of college bowl season. For most operators, that’s more than enough reason to rush toward the starting line.

Between now and December 1, all eyes will be on how those last few licenses shake out. Which operators can secure a partnership? Who will be left on the outside looking in? And of course — which two sportsbooks will win the untethered lottery? We’ll have updates along the way so be sure to check back regularly.

The post Missouri Will Soon Announce Sports Betting Licenses appeared first on My Top Sportsbooks.

You’re going to want to keep reading cause the numbers coming out of the North are truly jaw-dropping. We all expected legal sports betting to be a hit, but perhaps not to this level. Let’s dig into the data!

North Carolina By The Numbers

North Carolina sports betting was approved in June 2023. However, it didn’t launch until 2024. Welp, we now have full data on how those 16 months have gone, and it’s gangbusters stuff.

North Carolinians wagered a staggering $6.6 billion during that timeframe. That’s just total bets placed. Of course, the state itself only keeps a part of that after the top betting apps keep their share. Still, the state earned $116.5 million in tax revenue.

But let’s put those numbers in context because this is where things get really interesting. Back in 2023, the legislature’s Fiscal Research Division had predicted $3.9 billion in total wagers for the first year. So those expectations were $3 million underneath what actually happened.

You HAVE to believe that South Carolina is looking across state lines and thinking, “what are we missing out on?” The states are eerily similar, after all (though the North has double the residents). And once you realize what North Carolina is funding with their share of sports betting, that’s when FOMO has to kick in for their Southern neighbors. Allow us to explain.

Who Gets Spots Betting Tax Money Anyway?

Going more into the data, it’s important to note that gross wagering revenue for the fiscal year came in at $647.7 million. Because the state taxes betting at 18 percent, that’s how they ended up with the $116.5 million in revenue we mentioned.

Now that money doesn’t all sit in a general pool. No, no, North Carolina law outlines exactly how it’s distributed. Each year, $2 million goes to gambling addiction education and treatment programs. Another $1 million is funneled into youth sports. Then 13 UNC system universities each receive $300,000 earmarked for athletic department spending — think facilities, scholarships, and operations.

The state also sets aside $1 million annually for amateur sports organizations and events. After that, the remaining tax revenue is split across three areas: 20 percent to the 13 UNC athletic departments, 30 percent to an incentive fund for attracting major events and entertainment, and the remaining 50 percent to the state’s general fund.

South Carolina, if they were ever to legalize, could follow suit. Or they can choose to fund their entire education department, which is what many other states do. Lawmakers would have the power to decide, and surely, they can come up with a good use for sports betting dollars.

Taxes Could Always Go Up (And So Too Revenue)

Lawmakers in North Carolina recently floated the idea of doubling the state’s sports betting tax rate — from 18 percent to 36 percent — as part of the Senate’s 2025–2027 budget proposal. The measure didn’t pass, but the message was clear: there’s a lot more money on the table, and the state knows it.

If passed, the new rate would’ve made North Carolina one of the most aggressive taxers in the nation, right alongside Pennsylvania (36%) and just below heavyweights like New York and New Hampshire (both 51%). Nationwide, we’re seeing states either pass or discuss new sports betting taxes. Illinois barely approved a 25-cent tax per wager, while Maryland successfully raised its rate from 15 to 20 percent.

The North Carolina proposal also included more funding for UNC system schools, upping the minimum from $300,000 to $500,000 per school, with UNC (the school where Bill Belichick now coaches) and NC State joining the pool.

Even though the hike didn’t stick — at least not this time — it underscores how attractive sports betting is for state budgets. For a state like South Carolina, still on the sidelines, it’s another reminder of what they’re leaving behind. Other states are raising taxes and reinvesting the cash. South Carolina isn’t even in the game.

Will South Carolina Ever Get In The Game?

Given what we’ve said, here’s the hundred-million-dollar question: what’s the holdup in South Carolina?

Put simply, leadership isn’t budging. Governor Henry McMaster is still firmly against any expansion of gambling and has vowed to veto any bill that crosses his desk. Lawmakers have introduced multiple proposals in recent years — but none of them have gotten serious traction. The latest one, the bipartisan Sports Wagering Act, went nowhere before the 2025 legislative session ended and effectively killed it. Momentum to legalize is hard to find anywhere stateside.

All of this while North Carolina keeps printing money off it. Their sports betting rollout is already a massive success — and they’re barely in year two. Meanwhile, South Carolina is sitting idle. Not because the people don’t want it, but because the ones in power haven’t caught up. And that hesitation? It’s getting more expensive by the month.

The post North Carolina Sports Betting Is Blowing Away Expectations appeared first on My Top Sportsbooks.

Of course, the series had the eyes of NBA betting brass. Amazingly, the Thunder opened the series as -700 to win the championship. For folks a little less in the know on betting, that means they were huge favorites to win. A $700 bet on them would’ve only profited $100 at those odds.

Though, the lopsided odds were warranted. Thunder won a league-best 68 games. The NBA record is 73 games (the 2016 Warriors) so that’s the historical context. They also had the league’s best player, SGA, who won the MVP award.

Indiana fought them tooth and nail despite being longshots. Certainly, there were a number of Thunder bettors sweating the series. We scanned the country to find some of the biggest bets made on the Thunder. Keep on reading to see what we found!

Biggest Bet Ever?

As you may or may not know, you can’t just bet millions at most legal sports betting spots. Why? It’s too big of a liability for most top betting apps. Paying out that type of money is a risk most don’t want to take.

However, BetMGM is not one of those apps. They disclosed that one bettor in Ohio dropped an eye-popping $8 million on the Thunder to win the NBA Finals — at those steep -700 odds we mentioned. He made the bet right before Game 1 tipped off, and it’s believed to be one of the biggest bets ever.

It dwarfs some of the headline-grabbing bets from Mattress Mack, who’s known for dropping seven-figure sums on his hometown teams of Houston. Back in 2022, Mack famously wagered $3 million on the Astros to win the World Series at 10-1. That bet made $30 million.

This Ohio bettor didn’t even come close to making $30 million. Because of the high odds, the bettor only made $1.14 million. Yes, we used the word only because this is the ultimate high-risk, low-reward wager. We know that sounds crazy cause he made $1 million and change, but the bettor came dangerously close to losing it all. Remember, the Pacers were winning Game 7 at halftime. And imagine if Haliburton didn’t get hurt? This Ohio bettor could very well have been zeroed out.

But hey, a win is a win, and this fella just took hold $1 million. State and federal taxes are likely going to half that reward, but it’s still a good day at the office, all things considered.

Other Bets That Did And Did Not Win

Here’s another million-dollar bet: someone at MGM casino in Las Vegas put $1.05 million on the Thunder to win the finals at -700 odds before the Finals began. It cashed, and this bettor earned $150,000.

It’s said that Jay Z also put $1 million in the Thunder to win. But… his bet was that they’d win in 5 games exactly. Obviously, that didn’t happen so Jay “lost.”

We put lost in quotation marks because our gut says that the bet never really happened. You see, Jay Z supposedly placed the bet at Fanatics Sportsbook. Jay, ever the businessman, has an ownership stake with Fanatics. So more than likely, Jay’s bet was just a marketing stunt to advertise the sportsbook he has equity in. Go figure!

Thunder Could Run It Back

Sportsbooks are already looking ahead to the 2026 NBA Finals. As it stands, odds favor OKC to go back-to-back. The Thunder are +240 to win the title again, which is the best out of all 30 teams. It’s also the shortest preseason line we’ve seen since the 2018-19 Warriors, who were an incredible -168 favorites to win the title that season.

There’s a clear gap between the Thunder and other favorites. The Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks are sitting at +700 — the best odds among Eastern Conference teams. Over in the West, the Houston Rockets are the next-best team at +800.

The irony of all this betting talk is that most Oklahoma City fans can’t even bet on their own team. That’s because sports betting in Oklahoma remains banned. It’s one of only 11 states without a legal sports betting market.

Sports betting remains illegal in Oklahoma largely due to ongoing tension between the state government and tribal nations, who operate all the legalized casinos. Governor Kevin Stitt has pushed for broader betting access, including commercial operators (e.g. BetMGM or DraftKings), while tribes have resisted, citing exclusive gaming rights under existing compacts. The two sides haven’t struck a deal — and until they do, betting will remain off limits in the Sooner State.

So for now, Thunder fans can celebrate the title but still can’t legally bet on their team unless they cross state lines or use offshore sportsbooks. It’s a strange reality: bettors across the country are banking on the Thunder’s success, but hometown teams are left completely out.

The post Bettors Cashed In On Oklahoma City’s NBA Title Win appeared first on My Top Sportsbooks.

As of late, local fans have had a lot to cheer about. Georgia won back-to-back national championships, and if popular offshore sportsbooks are right, they’re top favorites again this year.

But… underneath the excitement, there’s some nervousness for the Georgia football staff. Not necessarily about the team’s performance (though that exists too), but about possible betting infractions. That’s not to say it’s happening, but more for the potential of it going down. Again.

Yes, again cause the athletic department has a history with the newfound issue. Keep reading, and we’ll explain the issue, which could be a ticking time bomb.

Georgia Has Had Issues With Sports Betting

Just a year ago, Georgia was at the center of a sports betting controversy. Here’s what went down: a former Georgia football staffer broke NCAA rules by betting on professional sports. The individual, who has never publicly outed, placed the bets back in August 2020. But the violation wasn’t discovered until 2023, when Georgia’s compliance team reviewed and processed the case. The staffer was dismissed from the program.

The incident was classified as a Level III NCAA violation — the lowest tier, typically reserved for minor infractions — and was included in the school’s quarterly compliance report at the time. But… it could have been so much worse. You see, the bets didn’t involve Georgia games or even college sports. It was still an issue because the NCAA bans sports betting of any kind.

The blanket ban on any and all sports betting is not-so-intuitive. Surely, players, coaches, and staffers understand you shouldn’t bet on Georgia or related teams (e.g. Bama or Ole Miss). But knowing that NFL or NBA is off limits? That’d be less obvious, hence the risk.

But get this, even fantasy sports betting is a no-no. In 2022, Georgia also caught a student athlete placing a bet on a top sports betting app for fantasy. That was also earmarked as Level III which is considered isolated or limited in nature.

“We’ve had issues with that in the past, too,” Georgia football coach Kirby Smart said in May 2023. “It’s more prevalent. I can’t turn the TV on now without seeing something. There’s a lot of debate out there about what’s right and what’s wrong, but the NCAA rule is pretty harsh for gambling relative to some other things. It’s pretty obvious why. They don’t want that infiltrating teams.”

Sports Betting Scandals On The Rise Countrywide

Georgia’s past two incidents with sports betting are relatively minor. But that doesn’t mean the threat of a bigger scandal breaking out isn’t there. It’s in the back of the mind of the entire sports betting industry really.

The two most famous betting scandals come from pro sports. One involves Shohei Ohtani, the baseball golden boy. His translator was siphoning millions of dollars from his account (secretly) and betting them recklessly (losing). The translator was busted when the illegal bookie he was using was caught himself.

Then there’s the NBA, which has been hit with the gambling bug the most. Jontay Porter was banned for life when it was uncovered he was passing information to external bettors at the very least. But at most, he was fixing his performance to help prop bettors. That story is still ongoing, but it’s the kind of issue other leagues and teams fear the most.

College sports have had minor scandals, but nothing like Ohtani or Porter. However, it’s believed collegiate athletics are most at risk since there are more players and games to fix, plus young athletes are more susceptible to outside influence. NIL pays them money now, sure, but the power of outside money could be enough to sway them to throw outcomes.

Georgia’s Sports Betting Irony

Back to Georgia now. Here’s the great irony in this whole dilemma: Georgia sports betting isn’t even legal.

Georgia lawmakers have tried and failed to pass legislation year after year, often getting tripped up by political infighting or debates over how the tax money would be spent. Meanwhile, neighboring states like Tennessee and North Carolina are pulling in tens of millions in revenue from legal sports betting.

And yet, betting issues are still happening inside Georgia’s athletic programs. Whether it’s fantasy lineups or offshore bets, staff and athletes have ways to get involved — even without a legal sportsbook in state lines. That’s the irony. Georgia gets none of the tax benefits of legal sports gambling but all of the risk.

So now, as the Bulldogs chase another national title, the university compliance department is stuck playing defense off the field. Betting infractions have happened before. They could happen again. And until Georgia legalizes and regulates the space, they’ll be fighting an uphill battle against a game they refuse to officially join.

The post Betting Infractions Under A Microscope In Georgia This Season appeared first on My Top Sportsbooks.

Depending on what top betting app you use, the Crimson Tide are around +1000 to win the title. Only a few programs — rival Georgia, Texas, Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State — have better odds than Bama. Oddsmakers are overlooking Kalen DeBoer’s rough first season in which Alabama failed to win at least 10 games, something uncanny during the Nick Saban era. Still, this Alabama and they have one of the best recruiting classes in the nation. So the expectations remain the same: title or bust.

Naturally, Bama fans are riled up about Year 2 of the DeBoer era. Riled up and ready to bet. One issue: if you live in the state where the Tide play, well, you can’t legally bet on ‘em. That’s right, Alabama is still one of 11 states without a legal sports betting market.

Though, there are ways to bet the team, and the rest of the college football season. You’ll just have to go out of your way to do it. Keep reading and we’ll explain three options for Alabama sports betting for locals. After all, we wouldn’t want you to miss out on this coming football season.

Option 1: Cross The Border To Bet

Alabama may be holding out on sports betting, but its neighbors aren’t. If you’re up north — say, Huntsville or anywhere close to the Tennessee line — that’s your best shot. Tennessee has full-blown mobile sports betting with BetMGM, DraftKings, FanDuel, and others all legally available.

All you need to do is cross the state line, and your sportsbook app unlocks. You can sign up, fund your account, and bet right there from your phone. Then you can drive back to Bama and sweat it out from home.

The Tennessee option is convenient if you live near the border. If not, the price of gas isn’t going to do you any favors. At that point, you almost HAVE to win your bet to make the trip and cost worthwhile. Do you trust yourself enough to bet Bama like that? That’s for you to decide.

Now if you’re further west or down south around Mississippi — and that’s where things get a little less convenient. Mississippi technically has legal sports betting, but it’s retail only (not mobile). That means if you want to bet, you have to step inside a casino. There’s no mobile app you can fire up from your hotel room or your car. You’re physically putting in tickets at a sportsbook counter.

Live near Georgia? Well, that will do you no good. Georgia also has sports betting outlawed within its borders so don’t waste your time there.

Option 2: Bet Offshore (What We Recommend)

Then there’s the offshore route. If crossing borders feels like a hassle, welcome to a way easier way to bet (that won’t cost you gas money and driving time).

Offshore sportsbooks like Bovada, BetOnline, MyBookie, and XBet have been serving US players forever, including those in Alabama. They’re not regulated by any US state, but they are by their home jurisdictions — places like Costa Rica or Antigua. And because Alabama doesn’t have a state law banning the use of offshore sportsbooks, using them is perfectly fine for individual bettors. You’re not breaking any state law.

Are they as safe? If you stick to these sites we recommend (listed below), then yeah. We’ve personally tried out the underneath bookies, and they’re trustworthy as can be.

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More than just safe to use, these books are legit good. College props, player specials, live betting — all of it is there, not just Alabama, but for all schools. And if you’re into crypto, a lot of these sites will even give you extra bonus cash for depositing in Bitcoin or Ethereum.

Offshore sites are akin to using DraftKings or another licensed bookie. They work exactly the same, but since they’re not completely regulated, they work anywhere and everywhere, including non-legal places like Alabama. The convenience of being able to bet while chilling at home just can’t be topped.

Option 3: Waiting On Alabama Lawmakers (Good Luck)

And then there’s option three — wait around for Alabama to get its act together. Except, you’d probably have better luck waiting for Auburn to win another national title (sorry, we had to get that dog in, Tigers fans).

Alabama has been flirting with legalized betting for years now. Every legislative session, someone introduces a sports betting or gambling expansion bill. Every session, the same thing happens: nothing passes. It either gets buried in committee, or it dies on the floor because lawmakers can’t agree — or simply don’t want to.

At this point, most insiders don’t expect anything to pass anytime soon. The state’s political climate just isn’t friendly to gambling, even if polls show most Alabamians would vote yes to legalized betting if given the chance.

So here’s where that leaves you: if you want to bet football this season — and let’s be honest, who doesn’t when Alabama or Auburn are playing — you’ll need to either drive to Tennessee or Mississippi, or fire up an offshore book. That’s it. So what’s it going to be?

The post How To Bet Tide Football If You’re In Alabama This Fall appeared first on My Top Sportsbooks.

First of all, its Florida sports betting empire is getting sued — again. This new lawsuit, though, says its exclusive gambling compact with the state is unconstitutional because it bypassed a public vote that’s required. Hard Rock has been sued countless times since launching legal sports betting in 2021, but these claim have some new grounds (the state constitution) that’s not within their control.

On top of that, the Hard Rock is bidding for a New York betting license — casino, not sports. The state is giving three casinos the right to build in New York City. Obviously, that’s a billion-dollar opportunity in the world’s most affluent market.

That’s why this news headline is damning for Hard Rock. It involves a top-level executive and accusations of money laundering for an illegal bookie. Not a good look, obviously. Keep on reading, and we’ll tell you the shocking details of the story.

Hard Rock Suspends, Not Fires, Exec

Meet Alex Pariente. He’s the senior VP of hotel and casino operations. Welp, he’s at the center of this controversy. Pariente has now been suspended without pay. The reason? A whistleblower dropped some bombshell accusations regarding his activity at the Hard Rock Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic.

The whistleblower, who just so happens to be a federal informant (go figure!), claims Pariente looked the other way while a crew of illegal bookmakers freely gambled at the resort. And we’re not talking small-time guys. The group allegedly included Matt Bowyer, the infamous Southern California bookie who handled $325 million in illegal sports bets from Ippei Mizuhara — yes, the same Mizuhara who stole from Shohei Ohtani.

Mizuhara was his most famous client, but Bowyer is said to have serviced over 700 clients in illegal bookmaking. He’s currently in court for one of the largest illegal sports betting rings in recent memory. So allowing bets from him, which the whistleblower says Pariente knowingly did, is not good — especially when that case is being decided right now.

The New York Post was first to break the suspension news so it’s a national headline. The Hard Rock gave a PR-spun response, saying:

“Hard Rock International is aware of the allegations involving one of our executives and is treating the matter with the utmost seriousness. Honesty and integrity are core values of our organization, and we hold all team members — regardless of their role — to the highest ethical standards.”

Who Is Pariente Anyway?

Pariente isn’t just another executive. He’s well-known in the Florida and Caribbean scene. While he’s been based out of South Florida since 2019, the islands are like a second home to him. Right before the pandemic, Pariente spent nearly a year at Nexus, a Nassau-based real estate and hospitality firm backed by names like Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, and Justin Timberlake — not your average investors.

Before that, Pariente was at Baha Mar, the sprawling 1,000-acre resort in the Bahamas. He was their executive VP of casino operations and marketing for just over a year, a gig he took after an earlier run at Hard Rock Punta Cana where he served as chief gaming officer. That Punta Cana post is now the flashpoint of this whole controversy.

After bouncing around the region, Pariente returned to Hard Rock International in early 2019, landing at their South Florida HQ. But the shadows from Punta Cana followed. The New York Post’s story on his suspension landed weeks after Casino.org dropped a bombshell exposé detailing various allegations tied to his oversight of the Punta Cana casino (accounting irregularities and money laundering, among others). What’s the saying, “where there’s smoke, there’s fire”? Sure looks like it here.

New York Efforts Remain Steadfast

Hard Rock is fighting fires in Florida and the Caribbean, but that’s not stopping them from chasing the crown jewel of casino licenses: New York City. As it stands, only eight bidders remain in contention for three licenses.

Hard Rock has its PR troubles, but elsewhere, they’re sitting pretty thanks to a partnership with Mets owner Steve Cohen. The sides are co-pitching an $8 billion mega-resort called Hard Rock Metropolitan Park, planned for the area around Citi Field. The blueprint is classic Hard Rock — live music venue, convention center, 1,000-room hotel, and so on.

They got their bid in before the deadline last month, but good luck getting any official comments now. The company’s keeping its mouth shut, probably because of the ongoing scandal surrounding their suspended exec and Punta Cana casino drama.

To be fair, Hard Rock’s not the only one carrying baggage into this race. MGM Resorts and Resorts World, both contenders too, have recently written big checks to Nevada regulators for anti-money laundering failures of their own. Resorts World Las Vegas paid $10.5 million after connections to — you guessed it — illegal bookie Matt Bowyer. MGM paid $8.5 million, partly because their former exec Scott Sibella was cozy with another illegal bookie, Wayne Nix.

See? No one has clean hands in this legal sports betting industry, unfortunately. So this Caribbean drama might be a nothinburger when all is said and done.

The post Hard Rock Exec Suspended Over Illegal Bookmaking appeared first on My Top Sportsbooks.

For example, Maryland went from a 15-percent flat tax to now 20. Illinois, in a shocking move, created a tax on every bet. It starts at 25 cents for the first 20 million wagers annually, then increases to 50 cents — again, on every wager placed. The changes in Illinois forced DraftKings and FanDuel to increase their own fees, which of course, the players take on. But here’s the thing: this “tax war” in Illinois could’ve been avoided by doing this: legalizing iGaming.

As it stands, online casinos are only legal in seven states — 32 less than sports betting. In the states where it is live, iGaming is making a killing. That’s the case in Delaware, which was early to the online betting scene. Let’s take you into the state and see what other states could learn from the First State as they fall themselves.

May Was A Blowout Month For Delaware iGaming

The Delaware Lottery released official data on the industry’s performance in May, and things are going well. Really well. The state pulled in $8.3 million in online gaming revenue last month, more than doubling the $3.8 million made in May 2024. That’s a 115-percent jump year-over-year. Pretty monster stuff right there.

However, May’s haul was actually down slightly from April — about 0.7 percent lower, to be exact. So technically they are down there, but we’re not going to make a fuss over a 0.7 percent drop. Not when year-over-year data doubled.

Most of the money came from the usual suspects: video slots carried the load with $5.7 million, while table games chipped in $2.6 million. This is pretty much standard fare across the country, not just Delaware betting. Bettors not only love their slots, but it’s just a more monetizable business. Players rack play more games more quickly, and spoiler altert: that’s an advantage to “the house.”

The Delaware Lottery also mentioned where the bulk of that betting is coming from. The state has three licensed casinos, and only they are allowed to offer iGaming legally. Of the three, Delaware Park took in the most money in May. The casino banked $3.9 million for the month — up a strong 70 percent from last year.

But the biggest mover? That’d be Harrington Raceway and Casino. Their revenue skyrocketed 218 percent year-over-year to $2.7 million. Bally’s Dover didn’t miss out either, climbing 130% to reach $1.8 million in May.

So yeah, Delaware may be small (it’s the second-smallest by land mass and sixth-least populous state), but its iGaming growth is punching way above its weight right now. Let’s see if that momentum holds through summer, when typically, betting increases as more people vacation or have time off.

BetRivers Perfecting Casino Playbook

Here’s what we’ve failed to mention so far about Delaware’s casino success — there’s only one operator in town, BetRivers. This service, which is under the Rush Street Interactive umbrella, has an exclusive deal with the Delaware Lottery to be its betting partner. This goes for sports and casino play.

So all the iGaming revenue we mentioned earlier? Yeah, that’s BetRivers. They operate the casino games in the three licensed casinos — both in-person and online. BetRivers, the casinos, and the state all share in the profits being made.

As for the actual games, here again, it’s BetRivers partnering with operators of said games. Greentube is one of those operators, and that’s partnership is expanding, partly due to the success of Delaware. BetRivers will be bringing Greentube to its Pennsylvania-based casinos. No offense to Delaware, but Pennsylvania is a far more lucrative opportunity given its size (12 million more residents than Delaware).

Coming to Pennsylvania as part of the deal are established titles like Diamond Cash Mighty Sevens, Thunder Cash Voodoo Magic, and A Fistful of Wilds. Not stopping there either — once the paperwork clears, BetRivers is also getting Charming Lady’s Boom, Greentube’s top-performing US title, all to themselves for a while. But here’s the real play: BetRivers landed early access to Diamond Cash Mighty Elephant, which is dropping exclusively on the platform before it hits anywhere else in the state.

We know it sounds like running a casino operation is easy: build it and they will come. But BetRivers shows it takes savvy business acumen to lock up deals and grab market share from other competitors, whether that’s in Delaware or Pennsylvania.

So what’s the takeaway here, not just for other operators, but states not named Delaware or Pennslyvania? There’s a growing demand for online casino betting. Doubling numbers from a year ago proves that. Sooner or later, we expect these states to take notice and legalize it, and take the tax revenue that comes with it. This is a sleeping giant of an industry waiting to be woken up.

The post Delaware’s iGaming Business Models The Way For Other States appeared first on My Top Sportsbooks.

The official June numbers just hit. Maryland bettors wagered a little over $400 million during the month — which is usually quiet aside from NBA and NHL Finals betting. Still, the top betting apps in the state made around $50 in profit. Of that figure, $9 million was kicked back to the state in the form of taxes.

The tax number is interesting because it’s the first under a new tax rate. That’s right, Maryland — like many other states — recently increased its sports betting tax from 15 percent to 20. June 2025 was the first month it applied to.

But…. not all operators are walloping in the state’s success. There’s one sportsbooks that could be on the chopping block, not just in Maryland, but across the country. Keep on reading, and we’ll explain which sportsbook is on the ropes.

ESPN Bet’s Fate Is Up In The Air

Ever been to the Hollywood Casino in Perryville, Maryland? It’s one of six land-based casinos throughout the state. Besides having a great name, the casino features a flashy sportsbook — ESPN Bet. It’s owned by PENN Gaming, which pays ESPN handsomely to license its name for sports betting. For now, that is.

There is growing sentiment that PENN will abandon its current deal with ESPN worth $1.5 billion over 15 years. There’s an opt-out clause in 2026, which could terminate the deal early.

Stock analyst Jeffrey Stantial recently came out and said out loud what everyone in the industry is thinking. He mentioned PENN has new leadership, which could spur the change.

“On the Interactive front, we see increasing probability PENN exits the ESPN Bet relationship, though likely priced into shares already with overly conservative expectations for long-term iCasino market share,” Stantial said in a recent investor note.

Penn’s upcoming Q2 earnings call on August 7 will be a big tell on the state of the ESPN relationship. Analysts noticed the company downplayed sports betting on the last call and leaned harder into casino talk. If that tone continues this quarter, it could signal a looming exit from Disney and ESPN in late 2026, when that opt-out kicks in.

Of course, this is bigger than the Hollywood Casino or the state of Maryland. An exit would affect all Penn operations. By our count, ESPN Bet is live in 19 different states.

ESPN Bet Has Been A Big Failure

ESPN’s foray into the world of sports betting has been a disaster. If you remember, PENN previously licensed the Barstool brand for its sportsbooks. That was the case from 2020 to 2023. PENN bought the sports bro brand from Dave Portnoy in 2020, before divorcing it and going with ESPN instead in 2023.

Most industry experts believe ESPN badly misplaced its hand. By waiting an entire five years to get into sports betting — the industry was launched in 2018 after a Supreme Court ruling — ESPN lost its power. In that time they sat on the sidelines, most bettors got familiar with other brands like DraftKings or FanDuel, not the “worldwide leader in sports” as ESPN calls itself.

Just how bad is the ESPN Bet experiment? Industry insiders peg the platform’s online sports betting handle share at roughly 2.3 percent for April and May — a noticeable slide from the 2.7 percent it held in Q1. This is nationally, by the way. For context, Penn projected that figure to reach 4.7% by the end of this year, up from 3.7% to close 2024. That appears to be a gross overstatement.

Stantial pointed to cutbacks in promotional spending as a key reason for the decline. Compared to Q1, Penn’s reinvestment into promos — both overall and in states that publicly report those numbers — lagged behind the broader market. To no one’s surprise, less free money in the system typically means less love with bettors.

Ironically enough, the entire reason PENN licensed Barstool and ESPN was to lessen its free play promotion and advertising spend. The thought was that by leveraging those brands, they wouldn’t have to spend endlessly on promotions like the DraftKings of the world. Five years into this experiment, it’s become clear that PENN misplayed its hand. Badly.

Exec Shakeup Could Force The Issue

For what it’s worth, current PENN leadership — the ones who signed the ESPN deal — are already having cold feet. In a letter in April, CEO Jay Snowden and Chairman David Handler outright said that sports betting “has not met our expectations.”

Making matters worse, PENN is inserting new leadership into the equation. Penn shareholders officially elected Johnny Hartnett and Carlos Ruisanchez to the company’s board in June, ending a months-long tussle with activist investor HG Vora. The firm had pushed for three board nominations, but Penn capped it at two, filling the only open seats available.

Those board members don’t have any relationship with ESPN, which will make them more likely to cut the partnership. We certainly expect that to be the case. So yes, ESPN Bet is on borrowed time…

The post Big-Time Maryland Sportsbook Could Get Ax Soon appeared first on My Top Sportsbooks.

This has pushed Texas bettors to popular offshore sportsbooks or even out of state in Louisiana. However, these bettors might get an easier option for sports betting — all from the comfort of Texas borders.

Get this, prediction markets could become the next big thing in Texas. As it stands, these are sort of legal across the country, even in states without regulated betting. Whether that legal loophole remains open is a story in itself, but allow us to take you into some shocking developments in this world that could make its way to the Lone Star State sooner rather than later.

If You Can’t Beat Them, Join Them

DraftKings is the number two sportsbook operator by market share. Despite that success, they’ve been feeling the heat from the rise of prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket, among others.

Maybe you’re reading this and thinking, “what the hell are prediction markets anyway?” Well, these platforms let users buy and sell “contracts” tied to real-world outcomes — politics, economic reports, weather forecasts, and yes, sports. If that sounds like betting, well, it pretty much is.

But…. and this is a big but, prediction markets aren’t regulated like sports betting. Operators like DraftKings have to get a license in every state to operate. Prediction markets? They work everywhere, without a license. Yes, that includes states like Texas and California, which are stiff with traditional “betting.” But again, these prediction markets aren’t treated the same.

Back to DraftKings, though. Reports are saying that they are trying to enter the prediction market. According to Front Office Sports, the company is in talks to acquire Railbird, a newly licensed and federally regulated prediction market exchange. The deal isn’t finalized yet, and no one’s saying what it might cost, but where there’s smoke, there’s fire — and this is probably the real thing.

Railbird was founded in 2021 by ex-Point72 analysts Miles Saffran and Edward Tian, and it just got a major green light from the feds. Last month, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) approved Railbird to operate as a “Designated Contract Market,” making it one of the rare prediction markets with federal oversight. That means it’ll work in Texas, whether this deal goes through or not.

DraftKings Sees Dollar Signs

The timing of this move is interesting. First of all, the federal approval is massive. With that, Railbird can now expand to all 50 states, which it says it plans to do. The company is well-strapped financially with the likes of SeatGeek and multiple VC firms funding it.

Not only that, but DraftKings just withdrew its own application for such a federal license in April. At the start of the year, the betting giant filed paperwork with the National Futures Association to launch “DraftKings Predict,” its own federally regulated prediction market. Now we know that they probably found it easier to buy an existing license and company than go through the process on their own. This allows them a “back door entrance” per se.

DraftKings isn’t alone in sniffing around this space either. The parent company of FanDuel, Flutter, is also interested in prediction markets. CEO Peter Jackson recently called the industry a “prime-the-pump opportunity” in states where sports betting isn’t yet legal. He would be right given that California and Texas are still two massive dominoes yet to fall. Opening up those markets to sort of legal sports betting would be monstrous business-wise.

Prediction Markets Are Booming Nationally

This industry doesn’t appear to be a flash in the pan. Take industry leader, Kalshi. They just raised a massive $185 million at a $2 billion valuation, only six months after diving into sports contracts. Before, they mostly operated in the politics and entertainment world. Now? Half of their top-traded markets are sports. CEO Tarek Mansour has said the cash will help them go even deeper into sports and add distribution partners like Robinhood, which already carries their products.

Kalshi and others have proven product-market fit. Of course, that could all go away with some law changes. In fact, gambling states like Nevada and New Jersey aren’t fans — both have issued cease-and-desist orders accusing Kalshi of running an unlicensed sportsbook under the guise of event trading. Kalshi’s fired back with lawsuits and has managed to keep operations alive in some states thanks to temporary court wins, but the legal fight is far from over.

That’s where Railbird — and potentially DraftKings — see a lane. Railbird isn’t actually live yet, but with CFTC approval locked in, it’s better positioned on the regulatory side than Kalshi. In their license announcement last month, Railbird said it’s about bringing capital markets tools to the everyday headlines. Translation: they’re trying to be the “grown-up” company of this space — and DraftKings might just want that credibility baked in.

Texans, you may have a new way into sports betting as early as this Fall when the Longhorns and Cowboys are back in action.

The post How Texas Could Get Sports Betting In A Roundabout Way appeared first on My Top Sportsbooks.

Others know sports betting in California is illegal, thus they think other kinds of betting are too. That is wrong since California allows daily fantasy sports and casino betting, the latter run via local Native American tribes only.

That’s what makes its current predicament with sweepstakes casinos so weird. Are they legal? Are they not? Well, no one is entirely sure.

You see, sweepstakes casinos mimic real online casinos — slots, blackjack, and all — but skirt gambling laws with a clever loophole. Instead of betting cash directly, players buy virtual currency bundled with entries into sweepstakes for cash prizes. Operators claim this keeps them legal in California, but critics say it’s just gambling under another name and without all the regulation that comes with it.

As of now, sweepstakes casinos like Fliff, Stake, and others work perfectly fine in the Golden State. But… there’s a new piece of legislation in California that wants to nip that in the butt. Keep on reading, and we’ll tell you what’s going on in the Golden State!

California Readies War Against Sweepstake Casinos

California lawmakers have come out swinging against sweepstakes casinos. Earlier this July, they made progress on AB 831 — the bill aimed at banning these operators across all of the Golden State. It cleared the Senate Governmental Organization Committee already so there’s some momentum.

Though, that progress was thanks to some maneuvering. That’s because AB 831 wasn’t originally written to target sweepstakes casinos (it was about tribal betting instead). The Assembly passed it back in May with completely unrelated language. But once the bill hit the Senate, someone slipped in the sweepstakes ban last month. A total pivot, yes, but hey, that’s politics (just look at One Big Beautiful Bill).

Regardless, the bill is moving forward. California’s legislative session runs through September 12, though any bill can be carried into 2026 if needed. The next stop for AB 831? The Senate Public Safety Committee in mid-July.

“We cannot look the other way while these platforms exploit legal grey areas,” Assemblymember Avelino Valencia said in a statement. “These operations undermine the voter-approved framework that affirms Tribal governments’ sovereign right to conduct gaming in California. AB 831 strengthens that framework and ensures gaming in California remains fair and accountable.”

Funny enough, the bill made mention of some famous California residents — Ryan Seacrest and Drake. That’s because both have endorsed the very sweepstakes casinos California is trying to ban. Drake is a big promotional partner for Stake, while Seacrest shills Chumba Casino.

Even though the bill cleared the first committee, lawmakers didn’t let it slide without some pushback. Several raised concerns about the potential legal consequences this kind of ban might trigger — especially given how the language was dropped into a tribal gambling bill that had nothing to do with sweepstakes in the first place.

That last part might become a sticking point. Lawmakers, no matter what you think of them, usually don’t like making rushed decisions on policy. This late-second language revision is exactly that so that’s something to look out for as the bill now progresses.

States And Sweepstakes Casinos In Tug Of War

This isn’t just California’s problem either. Other states are heating up on sweepstakes casinos too. New York betting already made its move by sending a cease and desist letter to over 20 of these operators AND pushing legislation that would ban anyone from running, promoting, or even processing payments for these casino-like platforms. If it sticks, it’s a blueprint for more states to follow.

Naturally, the sweepstakes industry isn’t letting that slide. Two lobbying groups — the Social and Promotional Games Association (SPGA) and the Social Gaming Leadership Alliance (SGLA) — are pushing back hard. As they should be, after all, they’re racking up hundreds of millions of dollars, without paying as stiff taxes as regulated gambling companies.

Their argument? The classic “this isn’t gambling, it’s gaming.” They’re also leaning into the rewards program industry as a whole. Like why is Starbucks allowed to run rewards points or Marriott with their hotel programs, but sweepstakes casinos aren’t? That question is why lawmakers can’t easily ban these things. If they do, non-gambling companies might also bear the loss.

Then there’s the black market warning. Both groups claim banning sweepstakes won’t kill demand, it’ll just send players to popular offshore sportsbooks where there’s zero oversight and zero tax kickback (sweepstakes casinos, at the very least, pay an income tax).

All this is to say this tug-of-war is only getting started. California’s decision has national importance, not just local. Hate ’em or love ’em, the state sets trends in the United States, and really, the world. Other states will be keeping close tabs on what happens in California.

We’ll be monitoring the situation closely, including how the bill performs with other committees. So make sure you’re checking back with us to get the latest updates from us.

The post California Makes Progress On Bill To End Sweepstakes Casinos appeared first on My Top Sportsbooks.

It was a kingmaker deal as the Seminoles are one of the richest Native American tribes in all of the United States. Valuing their worth is almost impossible since they aren’t obligated to report numbers, but it’s easily in the billions. This empire is run out of Florida, which has become a golden goose market for Hard Rock.

As you probably know, the state of Florida has a 30-year compact with the Seminoles to offer legalized betting. Through this compact, Hard Rock has several casinos around Florida, plus a mobile sports betting app in Hard Rock Bet. Florida is one of the biggest markets in the country, and even larger than most countries so this exclusivity is no small deal.

However, don’t think the Seminoles are resting on their laurels. They continue to expand, this time internationally — all while facing another lawsuit in Florida. Let’s take you into the latest news regarding the tribe.

Seminoles Enter Canada Casino Market

Hard Rock is a global business. But… for all their success, there’s one country that’s evaded them, on the casino side at least. Yep, we’re talking about Canada. Hard Rock just launched a casino in Ottawa, giving them their first fully integrated Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. It completes a project that cost them $350 million.

It’s been a decade in the making. What started back in 2017 when Hard Rock took over day-to-day operations at the old Rideau Carleton Raceway has finally transformed into a mega resort, packed with everything from a 150-room hotel to a sprawling 150,000-square-foot casino floor.

And this place is loaded to the brim. We’re talking 1,500 slot machines, 40 live-action table games, high-limit areas, ten restaurants and bars, plus a state-of-the-art concert venue. That venue — Hard Rock Live — opened with back-to-back performances by David Foster, Katharine McPhee, and Avril Lavigne. Not a bad way to announce your arrival, eh?

There’s more coming too. Renovations on the original building will kick off soon and be integrated into the current footprint by the end of 2025, adding even more dining and gaming space.

Hard Rock says this is about more than just a casino — it’s about planting roots. Through their Heals Foundation, the Ottawa team is already backing community events and local partnerships, including with the PWHL’s Ottawa franchise. Undoubtedly, they want to create goodwill and expand further and further out in Canada.

Trouble Brewing At Home

As we alluded to earlier, Florida is the Seminoles home base — historically and business-wise. But, that home base is under threat (again). Ever since the Seminoles signed a compact with the state in 2021, they’ve faced lawsuit after lawsuit, especially on the sports betting in Florida front. Welp, those troubles are back.

The new lawsuit, filed by a group called Protect the Constitution LLC, is turning heads because it’s going after the compact from a fresh legal angle. Rather than trying to fight this in federal court or use an obscure writ, the group is asking a Florida circuit judge to rule that the whole 2021 compact is unconstitutional under state law.

Their argument hinges on a 2018 amendment that requires voters to approve any expansion of “casino gambling.” And while the state and Seminoles say this doesn’t apply because all sports bets technically route through tribal servers, the plaintiffs are saying that’s just a loophole. A clever one, sure — but still a workaround that skips voter input, which renders the whole thing illegal.

It’s not a small challenge either. Because if the court agrees, it could unravel the entire foundation of Hard Rock Bet in Florida. That’s the kind of disruption that might even spook their businesses in other markets. Like we said before, the Florida monopoly is the golden goose of the company. It likely props up Hard Rock’s less profitable businesses elsewhere.

But just how much money is at stake, you ask? Well, the Seminoles have already paid the state $2.5 billion over five years for the exclusive rights. And that number likely pales in comparison to what they’re actually raking in through the app and their brick-and-mortar casinos.

So for now, the tribe expands into Canada with a new mega-resort while their Florida empire stays under legal fire. They may have won in federal court and dodged the Supreme Court in the past, but this fresh state-level challenge is anything but a done deal. Because in Florida, the fight over gambling is never really over — not when there’s this much money on the line.

We’ll be following all things Hard Rock closely — lawsuits, expansion, possible executive changes, and more. Be sure to check up cause things are going to get juicy from here on out.

The post Hard Rock Expands Despite Legal Troubles In Florida Home appeared first on My Top Sportsbooks.

This article is not necessarily about that, but instead, about The Sands unconventional ways. And not just in their attempt to bring gambling to one of the country’s most conservative states. No, that’s only scratching the surface about one of the world’s biggest gambling empires.

You see, most people don’t realize this, but The Sands doesn’t even have an actual casino business in Las Vegas or Nevada in general. Heck, it doesn’t even have one in the entire United States. That’s right, of the two casino properties it still owns, both are international — in Macao and Singapore.

You’re probably wondering, then how did they get so big business-wise? And how can this company even dare to bring a casino-resort to the state of Texas? That’s what this story covers so keep reading on how The Sands built its empire, doing it their way.

How The Sands Built Its Empire

The Adelson family is most associated with The Sands, but… they didn’t found the company. The original creator was Mack Kufferman, who opened the original Sands Hotel & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip in 1952. This was an original Rat Pack hangout spot for the likes of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Joey Bishop, and Peter Lawford.

Sheldon Adelson didn’t enter the picture until 1988 when he bought the casino for $110 million. While honeymooning in Venice with his second wife, Miriam, he came up with the idea of the Venetian. To create it, he tore down the existing casino and built the Venetian, which still stands today.

The Venice-themed Venetian is one of the hallmarks of the Strip. To capitalize, the Adelson’s opened the Palazzo next door in 2007, creating a mega-resort complex between the two.

Around this time, Adelson set his sights on East Coast expansion. In 2009, the company launched Sands Bethlehem in Pennsylvania on the old Bethlehem Steel site — a strategic move, located just an hour from Philly and 90 minutes from New York City. A decade later, they sold it for $1.3 billion to Wind Creek Hospitality, run by the Poarch Band of Creek Indians in Alabama.

These moves made The Sands what it is today — a publicly-traded company that does over $11 billion in revenue today. Though, Sheldon is no longer around as he died in 2021. That same year, the company sold its Las Vegas properties for a whopping $6.25 billion. And with that, The Sands cashed out of the city that made it famous, and set its sights for elsewhere again.

Adelsons (Try) To Take Texas

This is where Texas enters the picture. Out of Las Vegas, The Sands is now being shepherded by Sheldon’s wife, Miriam, to go big in Texas. At the tail end of 2023, they started buying a controlling stake in the Dallas Mavericks NBA team. Not just any team either, this is a franchise owned by one of the league’s most outspoken men, Marc Cuban.

But ever the opportunists, most people read between the lines on the multi-billion-dollar sale: it was a play to bring legal gambling to North Texas. As it was then and still today, locals have to jump to nearby Oklahoma to do their betting. But with the Adelson family at the head, surely, they’d bring their expertise with them.

The Adelsons soon bought massive amounts of land in Irving, Texas. By then, it was obvious what their intention was: moving the Mavericks away from Dallas and into the suburb. Not only is there enough space for a brand-new basketball arena, but a casino too. An arena-casino hybrid would be the NBA’s first, and surely, a license to print money.

Texans Say No Way

Earlier this year, Sands made it official by proposing a $4 billion resort proposal in Irving, right near the old Texas Stadium that housed the Cowboys forever. They promised jobs (9,000 of them), new entertainment, and eventually, casino gambling.

But… Texans weren’t buying it. Locals pushed back hard, flooding city meetings with opposition. The nearby University of Dallas aired its concerns too. The heat got so high that Sands had to strip out the gambling piece just to get the zoning passed. That move worked — but the fight didn’t end there.

The drama spilled into local elections, with city council races turning into a proxy war over whether gambling belongs in Texas at all.

Meanwhile in the capital, lawmakers gave the Adelson-backed bills another cold shoulder. Despite pouring millions into lobbying and campaign donations, Sands still couldn’t get a vote to legalize gambling. Not before the 2025 legislation ended.

See what we meant earlier when we said the Sands and Adelsons are unconventional? They’ve approached everything — from their casino business to the Texas legalization efforts — in their own way. It worked in business, but no cigar yet in Texas politics.

Still, we wouldn’t doubt them out. They have a big war chest of money that’ll keep them fighting for a long time. It could become a war of attrition in Texas…

The post Las Vegas Sands Are Bucking All Trends appeared first on My Top Sportsbooks.

But now, cardrooms are facing a new challenge, a political one. The state’s attorney general — one of the highest positions in California politics — just took a swipe at the industry, and this too, could break it for good. You’re going to want to read what happened, and the unintended consequences if the AG gets his way because it’s bigger than just playing cards.

Proposal Could Gut Cardrooms For Good

We’ll get the AG shortly, but first, we want to explain what cardrooms even are since they are a mystery to many non-Californians. Cardrooms are fully legal gambling dens without the slots or house-banked games. Instead, players bet against each other, and third-party dealers step in to simulate the house. There’s a legal loophole that allows them to stay in business, but we’ll get to that later.

The cardrooms specialize in blackjack, baccarat, poker, and pai gow. But… the AG wants to shake up how blackjack is played. So much so, that the game might not even be blackjack anymore.

Bonta has proposed significant rule changes to blackjack. Under his plan (not passed yet, but proposed), games can no longer use the word “blackjack” at all. The target number can’t be 21. There’s no more automatic busts. And pushes? Those become wins for the player. It’s a complete redesign — one that severs every recognizable part of the game most people came to play.

Obviously, this would erode the “edge” that cardrooms have when offering the game, tilting the odds more in the favor of players. That means less revenue, and significantly so, for the establishments off the game. But the AG wasn’t done, he has an even bigger change on his mind.

The “Killshot” Of The Proposal

The biggest threat in Bonta’s proposal isn’t the blackjack tweaks — it’s the attack on the banking system that makes cardrooms function in the first place. For years, these rooms have used third-party proposition players (TPPPs) to act as the “house,” letting players bet against a licensed contractor instead of the cardroom itself. This is the legal loophole we mentioned earlier that allows cardrooms to bypass the state’s exclusivity deal with tribes over legal betting.

Bonta wants undermine that loophole. His plan would limit anyone — including TPPPs — from acting as the banker for more than two consecutive hands. After that, the role must rotate or the game ends. Cardrooms would be forced to offer the banker spot to every player before each hand, with surveillance cameras required to capture the offer. Most players don’t want the job so good luck getting anyone to take it.

Not only is rotating so often inconvenient — it’s operationally impossible. Games won’t flow. Players will bail. Dealers will be stuck waiting on hands that never start. The whole setup collapses under the weight of bureaucracy, and that’s likely the point. The state isn’t trying to fix cardrooms, it’s actually trying to strangle them out of existence without opening themselves up to lawsuits.

Tribes Smell Blood in the Water

None of this is happening in a vacuum. California’s gaming tribes — who’ve long argued cardrooms were violating their exclusive rights — were already threatening cardrooms existence.

Earlier this year, the tribes banded together to sue the cardrooms. That suit is making its way through Sacramento County Superior Court, thanks to a one-time law passed last year that gave tribes a rare opening to sue. The case targets the exact player-dealer model Bonta wants to gut. But if his rules pass first, the tribes may not even need a win — the state will have already crippled the cardrooms’ legal foundation.

So if you’re the cardrooms, you’re facing not only the tribes, but now the state’s top cop. To borrow a term from the world of wrestling, it’s a handicap match, and the cardrooms are currently overmatched.

Cities Are Bracing for Impact

If you’re wondering who loses the most here, it’s not even the cardrooms— it’s cities throughout the Golden State. Dozens of California towns depend on cardroom taxes to pay for fire trucks, cops, parks, and basic services. Take a sub-15,000-person town in Soutshen California called Hawaii Gardens. Over 60 percent of its entire general fund comes from one casino. You pull that out, and the budget completely crumbles. And there’s no one to pickup the tab if cardrooms are gutted, as the AG is proposing.

Tribes don’t operate casinos in most of these small cities. Sportsbooks? Still illegal statewide (and offshore sportsbooks don’t pay local taxes). So if Bonta gets his way, and these cardrooms start folding, there’s no one stepping in to replace the money, maybe besides taxpayers themselves.

Bonta’s proposal isn’t law — yet. It’s still in the feedback stage, but obviously, he has a lot of pull to get this done. So yes, there’s a lot at stake here. Billions of dollars are on the line. Thousands of jobs are too. If these changes go through, it won’t just reshape cardrooms. It’ll reshape the cities around them too. Buckle up!

The post California Cardrooms Face New Headwinds appeared first on My Top Sportsbooks.

But if Florida’s attorney general has its way, the suit will be dismissed. In June, state lawyers asked a Tallahassee circuit judge to dump the brand-new complaint filed by a group calling itself Protect the Constitution LLC. Their request, in layman’s terms, is this: the lawsuit has nothing the court needs to hear so kill it now and allow its popular mobile betting app, Hard Rock Bet, to operate worry-free.

Allow us to explain what’s going on because it’s A LOT.

“Sports Betting ≠ Casino Gambling,” Says Florida

Let’s backtrack here, what’s the issue? Well, Protect the Constitution claims the Seminoles tribe — which has an exclusive deal with the state to offer legal betting — is offering “casino gambling” on its app. If so, that would be a violation of Amendment 3, which requires voter approval for online-based casino gambling. That did not happen here as the Seminoles and its fully-owned Hard Rock app, entered the state with a compact, not vote.

Florida lawyers have countered, saying that casino games are roulette, blackjack, slots — stuff you’d find on a Vegas floor — not sports wagers, which is what Hard Rock Bet offers. Because sports betting sits outside that casino bucket, the state argues the legislature was free to bake it into the 2021 compact with the Seminole Tribe.

Other Issues Are At Play

Amendment 3 is the novel issue here. No other lawsuit has brought it up before. But as you can see, the debate is really over semantics and definition. Ultimately, a judge will decide whether legal sports betting counts as casino gambling or not.

But… it won’t be the only issue. We could go through all of them one by one, but instead, we want to list Florida’s counter to each argument against it. Here’s a bullet list of what state lawyers believe gives them the right to keep business as usual:

• IGRA Shield – The Florida-Seminoles compact was OK’d by the U.S. Department of the Interior under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. Amendment 3 says nothing in it can block a tribal compact executed under IGRA.
• Server Location Trick – All online sports bets run through computers on Seminole land. Florida’s lawyers say that means, from a legal standpoint, the wager happens on the reservation — even if the bettor is on Miami Beach.
• No Harm, No Standing – Protect the Constitution doesn’t own a track, card room, or sportsbook. The state calls them “random Floridians hiding behind an LLC” and says they can’t prove they’re hurt by Hard Rock Bet’s success.
• Missing Party – The Seminole Tribe hasn’t waived sovereign immunity so the group can’t drag them into court. The state argues you can’t torpedo the compact if the Tribe — the other signer — can’t be sued.

Any one of those angles could give the judge a quick off-ramp without touching the bigger constitutional question.

Why This Group Is Suing Anyway

Protect the Constitution popped up in April with a single mission: force a statewide vote before any more mobile wagers are allowed. Their argument is straightforward: the hub-and-spoke model that allows anyone to bet on sports by phone is a no-no. If allowed, it’s an obvious expansion of gambling outside tribal land.

In their filing, they paint the compact as a workaround cooked up by Gov. Ron DeSantis and legislative leaders to dodge the 2018 voter mandate. They want a judge to declare the deal void and slam the brakes on Hard Rock Bet until Floridians sign off at the ballot box.

Other plaintiffs have argued similar things since 2021. But here’s what makes Protect the Constitution different: they skipped federal court and IGRA arguments. They’re attacking the compact strictly under state law, betting that a Florida judge — and eventually the Florida Supreme Court — will see Amendment 3 as an absolute veto over any statewide gambling expansion, servers or no servers.

Quick History Lesson: How We Got Here

We’ve alluded to the industry’s constant issues in the courtroom. It’s seriously been a yearly occurrence. For those that missed it, here are the issues that predate this latest complaint:

• 2021 – DeSantis and the Seminoles ink a 30-year pact. It gives the Tribe exclusive rights to statewide online sports betting and promises the state at least $2.5 billion over the first five years.
• 2021-22 – Two pari-mutuel groups (West Flagler & Bonita-Fort Myers) sue in both state and federal courts, saying IGRA never envisioned a phone bet 200 miles from a casino.
• 2023 – A D.C. circuit panel sides with the Seminoles.
• June 2024 – The U.S. Supreme Court refuses to hear the appeal; Hard Rock Bet relaunches in December.
• Early 2025 – Florida’s Supreme Court kicks a separate state-level writ on a technicality.
• April 2025 – Enter Protect the Constitution with a fresh state complaint and a different procedural path — asking for a standard declaratory judgment instead of an extraordinary writ.

What Happens Next?

The circuit judge will first tackle Florida’s dismissal motion. If the case survives, expect months of briefs, a hearing, and — no matter who wins — an appeal straight to the Florida Supreme Court.

For bettors, nothing changes today: the Hard Rock app is live and functional. For lawyers, lobbyists, and would-be competitors, the fight is very much back on. And for the rest of us? Strap in cause this story is far from over.

The post Florida Moves To Toss Newest Betting Lawsuit appeared first on My Top Sportsbooks.

Or at least, they usually are. Cracks are beginning to show that Vegas might just be on the decline. Tourists are pulling back, casino floors are thinning out, and layoffs are starting to creep up among many big-name casinos on The Strip.

What’s going on? Well, that’s the point of this article. We wanted to get a pulse on the city and see if Sin City could be a canary in the coal mine — not just for legal betting, but the American economy as a whole. Keep reading and we’ll explain what’s going on.

Numbers Are Down Across The Board

You can go to Vegas and do an “eye test” on the health of the city. How many people are there? How expensive things are (one tourist went viral for complaining about a $26 bottle of water at a mini-bar)? But all these things are subjective. To be as objective as possible, we pulled data to get a read on the city, and the numbers were surprising.

For starters, visitor volume dropped 7.8 percent year-over-year in March, marking the third straight month of decline. Hotel occupancy slid too, down to 82.9 percent from 85.3 percent a year ago. Gaming revenue on the Strip fell 4.8 percent in that same period. Of course, these aren’t catastrophic numbers, but they all point downward.

Even with convention attendance up 10 percent, it’s not enough to make up for the broader dip in leisure travel — especially among international visitors. Flights between the U.S. and Canada are down over 70 percent compared to last summer. Perhaps Donald Trump’s talk on annexing Canada and making it the 51st state scared off visitors.

On the labor side, things aren’t any better. Unemployment in Vegas hit 5.2 percent in April, one of the highest rates among major U.S. metros. Leisure and hospitality are taking the brunt of it with thousands of jobs lost over the past year. Dealer schools are reporting fewer enrollments, and casinos are cutting back on roles that used to be a stable career path. More on that in the next sections.

What Casinos Are Saying

More and more, we’re seeing headlines about Strip-located casinos laying off workers. The latest to hit was Fontainebleau laying off as many as 60 table game dealers. The resort wouldn’t confirm numbers, but said in a statement: “We continue to evaluate our business needs and adjust our hiring strategy accordingly.” Non-PR spin translation: business is tough, and we need to save money.

They’re not the only ones feeling the sting, though. Resorts World, The Venetian, and several MGM and Caesars properties have all trimmed operations or restructured staffing in recent months. MGM — the largest employer in the Silver State — eliminated concierge services at six of its nine Strip casinos last month, laying off 19 people and reassigning another 15. The company also cut valet services at one of its non-luxury properties.

Executives insist these are strategic adjustments, not signs of panic. MGM’s CFO Jonathan Halkyard told investors, “we’re always managing our labor expenses, and you’re seeing a reflection of that.” Caesars echoed a similar message, saying they’re constantly optimizing labor and vendor costs without compromising guest experience. But again, that’s mostly PR talk, as far as we’re concerned.

All these recent layoffs from the top betting operators clearly show a city that’s sluggish. It’s not collapsing, but things are definitely trending downward. But why? Let’s discuss in the next section.

Possible Reasons For The Slowdown

You can’t put all the blame on one thing causing the slowdown. No, it’s a lot more complicated than that. But here are the factors working together at the moment.

For one, international travel into the whole country has taken a hit due to shifting U.S. policy, tariffs, and stricter border scrutiny. Of course, many put the blame on Trump and his rhetoric. There’s some truth to that, no matter your politics. After all, Trump has built much of his second administration around an “America First” principle. Other cities, not just Vegas, are seeing less and less tourists from overseas so far in 2025.

There’s also the technology shift. Casinos are increasingly using automation — from electronic table games to mobile concierge services — and that’s reducing the need for certain in-person roles. Roughly 80 percent of customer interactions now happen through apps or digital platforms, another trend expected to increase, especially with the advent of artificial intelligence.

And then there’s the pressure to please shareholders. Many of these properties are owned by public companies under constant scrutiny to hit profit targets. Labor costs have jumped, especially with new union contracts. That makes mid-level managers and non-union staff more vulnerable to cuts.

Writing about the issue, the Las Vegas Review-Journal quoted an anonymous casino exec “Volume is down here in Las Vegas, absolutely. You’re having fewer visitors, and those visitors have less wallet share, which makes for less spend in the casino. Therefore, if you have less spend in the casino, you have to adjust your operating decisions and operating expenses.”

All this is to say, no one should hit the panic button on Nevada betting yet. But… it ain’t all rainbows and sunshine either. The tourist haven is a perfect case study on how the economy, government policies, and automation are influencing it. What happens from here is anybody’s guess since all three factors are in constant flux.

The post What’s Up With All The Layoffs In Las Vegas? appeared first on My Top Sportsbooks.

For starters, it’s not launching until December 1 — the latest possible date they could’ve. Obviously, missing most of the NFL betting season isn’t ideal. Not when it’s the peak month for legal sports betting for every single state, but at least they’ll catch the end of the regular season and postseason play.

We also know the tax rate will be 10 percent on revenue made. That’s an astronomically low number, especially when neighboring state Illinois just implemented a 25 to 50 cent tax on every sports wager made. That comes on top of raising sports betting taxes to as much as 40 percent for top operators a year ago. Missouri is charging pennies in comparison to Illinois.

Anyway, there are some unknowns in Missouri. The biggest one? Which operators are even going to be allowed in the state? However, we’re starting to see some clarity on this end. Keep reading and we’ll update you on where things are trending.

How Many Sports Betting Licenses Will There Be?

It won’t be necessarily hard to get a license to operate in Missouri, that’s for sure. That’s because all of the riverboat casinos in the Show-Me State can have their own betting partner. The state has 13 such casinos. The same goes for the six professional teams in the area. This alone accounts for 19 unique licenses, though a single operator can partner with multiple establishments.

But beyond those, there are two “untethered” licenses available. These are not tied to a casino or sports team.

Applications for licenses opened on May 16. That window will remain open until July 15. From there, final decisions will be made by August 15 so it’ll be a pretty boom-boom process soon.

So far, we know that DraftKings and Underdog have applied. That was confirmed by a Missouri Gaming Commission spokesperson in June. No word if they applied for one of those untethered licenses, but we’d assume yes.

DraftKings is all but guaranteed to get a license as they are the second-biggest operator by market share in the country. They also spent a boatload on advertisements in Missouri to get the initial ballot vote passed. Underdog, however, is more of a licensing longshot. It only has licenses in three states so far.

It’s worth noting that all licenses come with a one-time fee of $500,000. After that, all they would owe is a 10 percent tax on revenue.

Who Will Partner Will Casinos?

BetMGM has officially entered the Missouri market. In May, they announced a deal with Century Casinos to be its sports betting arm. The company operates two establishments — Century Casino & Hotel Cap Girardeau and Century Casino Caruthersville. The latter of which is the state’s only non-floating casino, that’s situated next to the Mississippi River.

“We are excited to partner with BetMGM, a leading online sports betting and gaming entertainment company with a dynamic and innovative brand” Erwin Haitzmann and Peter Hoetzinger, co-CEOs of Century Casinos, said in the release. “This partnership is another step forward in leveraging our Missouri licenses and delivering premium entertainment experiences for our customers.”

BetMGM will not only have a physical sportsbook at these casinos, but its mobile app will be fair game in and around the state. It’ll work anywhere, not just on casino grounds. Per the deal, BetMGM will kick some of its net gambling revenue back to Century Casinos a percentage of net gambling revenue. What that number is remains unknown.

As for the other Missouri casinos? They already have existing partnerships. Here’s a “lay of the land” per se:

• St. Jo Frontier Casino (Affinity)
• Mark Twain Casino (Affinity)
• Bally’s Kansas City Casino (Bally’s Corp.)
• Ameristar Casino Kansas City (Boyd Gaming)
• Ameristar Casinos St. Charles (Boyd)
• Harrah’s Kansas City (Caesars)
• Isle of Capri Casino, Boonville (Caesars)
• Horseshoe St. Louis (Caesars)
• Argosy Riverside Casino (Penn Entertainment)
• River City Casino (Penn)
• Hollywood Casino St. Louis (Penn)

So there’s not much mystery for the riverboat casino industry. However, the same can’t be said about the sports teams, which could be the biggest “catches” for operators.

Who Will Partner With Sports Teams?

The only domino to fall here was the St. Louis Cardinals. Back in March, the MLB team announced they would partner with bet365, a popular operator based out of England. No dollar figures were announced for those curious. All we know is the deal will include exclusive advertising rights (duh) and naming rights for a VIP-level area in right field (which previously went by Powerade Bridge).

To this point, it’s the only Missouri pro team in the area to announce a partnership. Here are the other five teams still yet to announce:

• Kansas City Chiefs
• Kansas City Current
• Kansas City Royals
• St. Louis Blues
• St. Louis City SC

Let’s be real, everyone is waiting to see who the Chiefs partner with. That is the most valuable property, and will likely remain for the next 5-10 years as long as Patrick Mahomes is on the team. The Chiefs know their worth and will price themselves accordingly. That likely leaves only DraftKings or FanDuel with a shot at nabbing them. This is the bidding war to watch from now until that August deadline.

The post Sports Betting Operators Finding Inroads In Missouri appeared first on My Top Sportsbooks.

Looking at the raw numbers, both those betting businesses are booming — and we mean booming. Record after record continues to be set or met during these summer months. Let’s get into the blow-out business of New York betting.

Sports Betting Produces Biggest Revenue Month Ever

May numbers are fully out. The number that jumps off the page is the $248.9 million. That is the gross gaming revenue (GGR), and it’s the highest ever recorded in state history (betting was legalized here in early 2022). It was 0.8 percent better than the previous record set in January of this year.

Honestly, this shocked us. A lot. May isn’t usually a big sports month, not compared to January when the NFL is wrapping up its regular season and marching toward the Super Bowl. Almost every state sets these records during the NFL season, not now. So what could’ve spurred the anomaly? Well, the New York Knicks had a magical run to the Conference Finals in May, which certainly helped.

It was the Knicks’ first Eastern Conference Finals appearance since 1999, and local bettors came out in droves. The betting handle hit $2.21 billion for the month. That’s the third month in a row that New York was above the $2 billion mark. Though compared to the January 2025 month we mentioned earlier, it was 10.8 percent below. So while bettors placed fewer bets in May than they did at the start of the year, operators managed to keep more of it.

That metric is called “hold.” For May, the hold — as in what the operator keeps after paying out wins — was an impressive 11.23 percent. Our guess for why it’s so high is that many bettors bet Knicks to the high heavens, and they didn’t deliver. They were eliminated in six games by the Indiana Pacers.

Let’s shift our focus to how much of that money the state of New York actually keeps. Remember, they have a 51 percent tax, the highest in the country. So that means they had a huge come-up in May. The state will keep $126.9 million, which is 22.4 percent better than this time a year ago. With this tax keep, the state is up to $3.2 billion in money brought in since sports betting was legalized three and a half years ago.

The biggest winners aren’t the bettors, the lawmakers, or the operators, though. It’s actually the New York education system. They get the majority of the sports betting tax. We hope the kids are learning at the expense of the bettor’s heartbreaking losses.

New York Operators Are Eating Good Too

Let’s talk about the operators, as in, who’s the king of New York? That would be FanDuel, who posted $108.8 million in GGR off a handle of $803.1 million in May. That’s good for a 13.54 percent hold — the highest among all major operators.

DraftKings, which briefly overtook FanDuel in March before slipping back in April, stayed in second. It brought in $84.2 million on $785 million wagered for a 10.73 percent hold.

Fanatics locked up the third spot with $18 million in GGR on a $190.6 million handle. Not far behind was BetMGM, who tallied $14.7 million off $161.2 million. Caesars was next with $13.8 million on $152.3 million. These three operators are in that second tier of operators — solid, but not quite threatening the top.

In the lower tier are Rush Street Interactive and ESPN Bet followed. They scored $4.1 million and $4 million, respectively. Both operated off sub-$50 million handles. Resorts World Bet pulled in $769K from $9.1 million wagered and Bally Bet rounded out the market with $631K in revenue from $12 million in bets.

Casinos Are Making Bank Too

It’s not just sports betting that’s making a killing in the Empire State. The casinos had their second-best month too with $62.9 million in GGR during May. As a frame of reference, that’s a hair above 10 percent from this same period a year ago.

Slot machines led the way as usual, pulling in $45.3 million — up 11.6 percent from last May. Table games brought in $16.2 million, up 7.3 percent year-over-year. And finally, poker added just under $1 million. Retail sports betting actually gets counted here, and it netted a meager $406,000. That just goes to show how dominant the mobile apps are compare to in-person gambling.

Anyways, the New York casino business is only going to get better from here. We’ve covered this story before, but multiple casinos are vying for licenses in New York City. Right now, all casinos are upstate, but that’ll be changing soon. There are eight bids and only three will get chosen, sometime this year by the state’s gaming commission.

Given the affluence of the city, these three licenses are expected to print money — no matter who wins the bids. All it’s going to do is cement New York as the new mecca of legalized betting (sorry, Las Vegas!).

The post New York Betting Revenues Continue Record Toll appeared first on My Top Sportsbooks.

It’s also been buoyed by a huge, mostly affluent population. Chicago is, after all, one of America’s richest cities.

But… it’s also been lifted by aggressive tax policies. But here’s the thing: these policies keep pushing the limit of the Illinois sports betting industry. The state once again shocked the landscape with yet another tax increase. Here’s what happened and how the ramifications are already being felt not just in the state, but countrywide.

Illinois Adds New Tax To Every Sports Bet

To preface, Illinois is in a bit of a hole, a $3 billion hole to be exact. And to close that deficit, Governor JB Pritzker is passing a brand-new $55 billion budget. There’s a host of things included in that budget, but tucked in the throes of it was a new tax on sports gambling that has the power to rewrite the math on betting.

The tax will be applied to every single wager made inside the state, whether it’s at a physical sportsbook or a top-used mobile betting app. Here’s how it works: on the first 20 million wagers a sportsbook takes in a year, Illinois will now charge a 25-cent tax per bet. After that, the rate doubles to 50 cents per wager. To level-set things, there were more than 370 million bets placed last year. DraftKings and FanDuel were responsible for about 300 million of those bets— putting them in the direct crosshairs of this tax, more so than others.

Remember, this is not a siloed tax raise. It’s become the MO of Illinois. A year ago, the state moved from a flat 15 percent tax to a tiered system that’s as high as 40 percent for the top-earning sportsbooks, which again, DraftKings and FanDuel exclusively qualify for. This alone made Illinois one of the highest tax states for sports betting.

With this new tax, it’s now even higher, almost at New York’s level (they tax it at 51 percent flat). Doing some quick math, this new tax will likely be a boon to Illinois’ tax coffers. Illinois already hauled in $276 million from sportsbooks last year. With this new policy, it would’ve brought in an extra $159 million, according to industry analysis. Even if 25 or 50 cents doesn’t seem like a lot, the math proves it is over the long run.

Illinois’ budget modifications also came after other “vices” like tobacco and vape products. Still, that did nothing to ease sportsbook operators, who feel singled out by the state, as we’ll explain in the next section.

Backlash From the Sports Betting World

The Sports Betting Alliance — which represents FanDuel, DraftKings, and other major operators — didn’t hold back in their statement after the news hit. Here’s the money quote:

“For the second consecutive year, the Illinois legislature chose to balance its budget with a crippling tax on legal online sports betting operators and their million-plus Illinois customers — this time with no warning and no consideration of the devastating impact this tax would have on the legal market.”

Keyword in that sentence: crippling. That’s how they feel, especially when they believe lawmakers could’ve gone about this differently. The statement mentioned how Illinois could’ve just legalized online casinos, which by itself, would’ve created $800 million in revenue annually. Not only that, but SBA says the tax will push bettors to offshore betting sites instead.

“With this change, lawmakers are essentially urging customers – and especially these small dollar bettors – to switch to unsafe and unregulated sportsbooks who defy state consumer protections and generate zero taxes for state priorities.”

DraftKings and FanDuel Hit Back With Their Own Fees

As mentioned, DraftKings and FanDuel will feel the sting of this new tax the most, given their market share. But… they are not “going quietly into the night.” No, they’re swinging right back.

FanDuel announced they’ll start charging Illinois users a 50-cent fee on every single bet beginning September 1 — just in time for NFL season. DraftKings followed suit two days later with the same fee and same start state. Though, each mentioned they’d drop their fees if Illinois repealed the per-bet tax.

Ironically, last year, DraftKings floated a similar idea — a “gaming tax surcharge” for high-tax states. This was in direct response to Illinois’ 40-percent tax raise at the time. They never went through with it due to backlash. But this time around? The backlash is muted, and for all we know, other states could feel their wrath, not just Illinois.

If this feels like a tax war, it’s because it sort of is. One side raises them, the other raises them right back, and the cycle continues. The biggest losers aren’t sportsbooks. They certainly aren’t lawmakers. It’s the bettors who will foot most of these bills.

The industry’s worst fear? That this tax war spreads to other states, not just Illinois. In that scenario, bettors will really feel the pinch.

The post Bettors Lose Most After Illinois Raises Sports Betting Tax Again appeared first on My Top Sportsbooks.

We strongly, strongly recommend reading the original article. It’s long, and might take you an hour to go through, but it really is explosive stuff. Journalism at its finest.

For your convenience, we’ve boiled down some of the best parts of the story. It’s not everything, but here’s what caught our attention of Adelson’s so-far-flawed plan to legalize betting:

The Sands Playbook

To level-set things, we need to establish who exactly The Sands is. In the world of legal betting, they’re one of the most respected names, akin to top betting apps like BetMGM. Sands is the company behind the Venetian Casino at the Las Vegas Strip (though they sold it in 2022). With properties all over the globe, the company pulled in $11 billion in revenue in 2024. Sheldon Adelson built the empire, but handed the reins to his widow, Miriam, when he died a few years ago.

Sheldon and Miriam are mega donors to the Republican Party. They forked over more than $100  million on Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign. So they know the political arena, which is why in Texas, they came swinging with lobbyists, TV ads, political donations, and empty-sounding promises like “let Texans vote on destination resorts.” This was after Miriam bought the majority stake in the Dallas Mavericks NBA team — a shock since Mark Cuban was one of the league’s most popular owners.

Besides throwing around their influence and money, Sands backed flashy bills — SB 1288 in the Senate and its House twin, HJR 155 — that would allow for resort-style casinos in major Texas metro areas and open the door for sports betting. The state has both banned, which allows billions to flow through other means: neighboring casinos in Louisiana and Oklahoma, and popular offshore sportsbook sites.

There was reason to believe Adelson and company were on the right side of things too. Support for legalized gambling has grown inside the state in recent years. A 2023 poll from the Texas Politics Project showed 75 percent of Texans either somewhat or strongly supported legalizing casinos. There was no major public outcry. No wave of angry citizens flooding town halls. But… The Sands overlooked its real opponents.

The Sands Runs Into Multiple Roadblocks

The Adelson family, despite their wealth, are still new to the Texas scene. With that newness, there’s opposition from the “old guard” per se. Ultimately, Sands’ progress was stifled by three opponents: conservative leadership, internal House dysfunction, and the silent power of status quo donors.

The two biggest political leaders never got fully behind it. House Speaker Dade Phelan said he was open to the idea, but never threw his full weight behind it. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who controls the Senate agenda, has publicly said, more times than once, that he’s not for legalizing betting. Then there’s the head honcho, Gov. Greg Abbott, who stayed mostly silent. And with that, all the horseman of Texas conservatism killed any momentum made by Sands’ leadership.

That was just the public-facing voices. Behind the scenes, plenty of big-money conservative groups lobbied hard against it. They didn’t need a popular campaign. They just needed to whisper in the right ears. That’s how influence works at a high level, and unfortunately for Sands leadership, they’re not privy to these convos yet.

The Irving Implosion

Texas Monthly’s story leads with a great anecdote on a particular town hall meeting inside Irving Convention Center. Critics of betting, who were said to be in the hundreds, flocked to the meeting in protest. Signs saying “Don’t Vegas My Irving” and flyers warning against “predatory gambling” were visible.

This wasn’t just any meeting either. It was in March, three days before a critical zoning law vote (and weeks after the Adelson family enraged local sports fans by trading Luka Doncic). If passed, it would’ve given Sands the right to built a resort-casino in the North Texas city. This would’ve been over the land that previously housed the Dallas Cowboys’ old stadium. Along with the casino, the belief was that the Mavericks would also get a new arena here.

These lofty plans in Irving were supposed to signal long-term commitment. Instead, it became a lightning rod for the local community. They rejected the Sands PR spin of the casino-arena hybrid generating economic activity. Opponents said the “moral decay” of gambling would outweigh any of the pros.

The Texas Monthly piece gets into vivid details about how the proposal was booed by the meeting goers. It got so bad that one proponent on Sands’ side suggested the crowd might’ve been paid for — by Oklahoma casinos who don’t want to lose their business from Texans crossing state lines. Whether that’s true or not, the community meetings were a PR disaster for the Sands.

Sands Walks Away Empty-Handed

So what happened next? After the zoning mess in Irving, public resistance, and political indifference, everything fizzled. The bills died quietly. No major debate. Just silence. And that’s the real lesson here — you can come into Texas with big pockets, but if you don’t understand the prideful culture, you’re toast.

The Adelson family thought money and flash would win. But Texas power doesn’t move like that. It’s slow and it’s deeply tied to a conservative identity that doesn’t want to be told what’s moral by outsiders from Vegas. Especially not outsiders who think you can buy your way in.

Texas legislature won’t meet again until 2027. The Sands has said they are in this for the long haul, but they’ll have to learn from these misgivings to turn their luck around.

The post Inside The Sands Failed Efforts To Legalize Texas Betting appeared first on My Top Sportsbooks.

Cause of that, Delaware has to do more to stand out. It has to legalize sports betting first after a Supreme Court ruling in 2018 (true story, by the way). And now it has to create a brand-new horse race to attract crowds and betting to Delaware. Well, mission accomplished.

On June 14, Delaware Park hosted the first-ever running of the Delaware Derby. Horses from around the country duked it out over a 1 and 1/16-mile track for the $200,000 prize. Onlookers, with glitzy outfits a la the Kentucky Derby, gambled to record numbers too. We want to take you into the inaugural event, including the betting ramifications of it all.

Race Day Excitement

Admiral Dennis entered the race as a 3-to-1 betting favorite among bookies and popular offshore sportsbooks, and the three-year-old delivered. In the end, Admiral Dennis strode to win by 3 and 1/4 lengths. For a race modeled after the Kentucky Derby, it was ironic that the Brad Cox-trained colt, based out of Keeneland, won it all. Admiral Dennis sat just off the early pace before taking control around the far turn under jockey Luan Machado, giving him his third career win.

“He was traveling like a winner the entire way,” said assistant trainer Trace Messina. “Once he took the lead, I felt pretty good.”

Barbadian Runner closed strongly to finish second, validating his dominant Jersey Derby performance and giving trainer Henry Walters another solid stakes result. Breaking from the rail, he settled in mid-pack early before launching a late move that picked off all but the winner. For a horse who’d previously done his best work on the front end, it was a versatile showing.

Kentucky Outlaw, the 9-5 favorite, grabbed the lead early and looked comfortable setting the tempo, but couldn’t hold off the top pair in the stretch. Still, the Long Branch Stakes winner held on for third and showed he belongs in this company. He’s now hit the board in four of his five starts, with continued upside for trainer-owner Felissa Dunn.

Surfside Moon once again had a tough trip, checking in just behind the top three. Trainer James Lawrence had noted some frustrating traffic issues in prior races, and this one followed the same script — another credible performance that could have been better with a cleaner run. National Law also faded late after making a mild bid into contention but couldn’t sustain the effort.

The rest of the field finished with mixed results. Omaha Omaha, returning off a break, showed early interest before fading down the lane. Sacred Thunder never quite got involved after a wide trip. La Houligan, Academy, and Pascaline all flashed potential at various points but didn’t factor late. With a strong pace and a legitimate stretch drive, the first Delaware Derby set the bar high — and gave several horses a springboard to bigger efforts down the road.

Record-Breaking Day at Delaware Park

The Delaware Derby didn’t just deliver on track — it also produced a historic day at the betting windows. The event drew a large crowd and drove a record handle of $6.5 million, breaking the track’s previous single-day record set in 2007 during the Delaware Handicap.

Much of that enthusiasm stemmed from the five consecutive stakes races on the 10-race card, with Admiral Dennis going off as the second betting choice and returning $6.40 to win. Fondly paid $9.80, rewarding bettors who believed in the Motion-Ortiz combo.

The Derby’s success marks a strong debut for the new race, which aims to become a mid-Atlantic staple. With the festive atmosphere, solid field, and high-caliber performances, Delaware Park made a convincing case that this event — and its betting action — deserves a permanent spot on the racing calendar.

Delaware Park Casino Has The Biggest Win

The biggest winner of the weekend? It has to be the Delaware Park Casino. The race was held at their historic track, and created a windfall — not just in revenue, but visibility. Remember: Delaware betting only has three licensed casinos, and Delaware Park is one of ‘em. The other two aren’t getting this type of buzz, we’ll tell you that.

Of course, Delaware Park has a storied history with thoroughbreds, dating back to 1937. Over the decades, it’s seen legends come through its gates — from future Kentucky Derby winners to Hall of Fame jockeys. But still, it hasn’t had a race like this in what seems like ages. The Delaware Derby gave it a new level of prestige, and more importantly, a reason for the racing world to pay attention.

And that attention matters. In a sport where tradition meets survival, creating something fresh that actually sticks is no small feat. The hope here is that it isn’t a one-and-done event, but a recurring thing. Year 1 certainly made a strong case for the latter.

The post Delaware Hosts First-Ever Derby Race appeared first on My Top Sportsbooks.

But… here’s the most crazy thing, some of the state’s most important leaders are NOT anti-betting. The opposite actually, as they’ve expressed interest in monetizing the fledgling industry. Let’s catch you up on some of their beliefs, and more importantly, why that hasn’t led to legal betting inside the red-blooded state.

The Governor Is Lukewarm On The Idea Of Betting

Meet Alabama Governor Kay Ivey. She’s been in the post since 2017 when her predecessor resigned. However, she’s won reelection in 2018 and 2022, making her the longest-serving female governor in the country.

All of 80 years old, and born and bred in Alabama — a hugely conservative state — you’d think she’d cite the Bible and oppose legalized betting. But you’d be wrong. While she’s not an advocate, the Governor seems to be neutral on the issue. Or so we thought. Recent comments signal she’s somewhat open to the industry:

“My position on gambling remains the same as it has for years. And y’all know what that is. I just want the people to have a vote,” she said.

Believe it or not, this is actually one of the more progressive positions in the state. And coming from the governor’s office, it carries real weight. If a solid, cleanly written bill ever made it through the legislature and landed on her desk, all signs suggest she’d let it move forward — not veto it, like some governors have straight up said (we’re looking at you, Oklahoma).

Ivey is the strongest voice in Alabama politics. However, even other top officials are on the same boat as her in regards to legalized betting, as we’ll get into that in the next section.

Senate Leader Is More Open To Betting

And then there’s Sen. Garlan Gudger. Just this February, at the start of the new legislative session, he was elected president pro tem by other Senators. Not as tenured as Ivey, but he’s the “new blood” leading the big wigs in politics.

He’s a little more forthright than Ivet on the topic of betting. Here’s what he had to say:

“I think we’re leaving a lot of money on the table where it’s going to other states,” Gudger said. “That’s my personal opinion. How we handle that, as a Senate body, I’ll be doing what the majority of this body wants….So I’m going to have to look at that bill whenever it does get filed, or if it gets filed. And then from that, we’ll take it apart piece by piece and make sure it’s the right thing to do for Alabama.”

In other words, Gudger wants legal betting and he wants the tax money that comes from it. He’s no dummy, he sees other states making hand over first from top mobile betting apps like BetMGM or FanDuel. So naturally, you want your fair shake.

After all, he knows Alabama bettors are still getting their gambling fix. Either bettors are crossing state lines to gamble — neighboring Florida, Mississippi, and Tennessee all have it — or they’re just using offshore betting sites, which don’t pay taxes anywhere in the United States.

In Grudger’s eyes, Alabama is losing on both ends. Not only are they not stopping gambling, but they’re losing money to other states and entities. It’s the ultimate lose-lose scenario.

So Why Is Alabama Still Resisting Betting?

The governor is on board sort of. The Senate leader is definitely on the train. So why has nothing passed in regards to legalized betting?

Honestly, it’s head-scratching. But part of it is an about-face from Gudger. His tune on the issue changed fast once the actual 2025 bill hit the floor. He publicly admitted there just wasn’t time or support to push it through. With only a dozen days left in session and budgets still unresolved, gambling got pushed to the back burner — again. He called it “too little, too late,” and that was that. No vote, no deal, no future for betting in Alabama this year.

Senator Greg Albritton, one of the few long-standing champions for legal gambling in the state, went as far as to say passing any bill is 20 years away. That’s part hyperbole, but he’s just fed up more than anything else. The senator has been pushing for a full package — lottery, casinos, and betting all in one — for years. All those attempts have been beaten down, and after a while, that takes a toll.

The bottom line is this: it doesn’t matter that voters likely support it or that other states are making millions. Betting isn’t going anywhere in Alabama because the majority lawmakers — not just the top ones — can’t agree on what an industry should look like.

Should it be sports only? A lottery? Everything and the kitchen sink? No one can agree — and there lies the problem.

The post Alabama Leaders Are Open To Betting, So Why Is Nothing Happening? appeared first on My Top Sportsbooks.

Gangbusters numbers? Obviously not. But it was the return that was the story. It has been 22 long months since he last pitched in the majors — back when he was still an Angels player and not yet a World Series champion. An elbow injury, the second of his career, has shelved him from pitching (but not hitting) the entire time.

Ohtani threw only 28 pitches, but he’s expected to increase the count in the coming starts. Fourteen of Ohtani’s pitches clocked at or above 98 miles per hour, with one reaching 100. The Dodgers are planning to have him on the mound once a week.

“I’m just really grateful, reflecting back on all the support that I received from the doctors that operated on me, the support staff, the team and everybody who supported me along the way,” Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton. “I’m just grateful that, aside from the results, to be able to show and be grateful for the moment I had today.”

The quote is poetic for two reasons. One, it’s not the interpreter he first broke into the league with almost a decade ago. Two, that original interpreter, had a day to remember on June 16 — but for completely opposite reasons as we’ll get into.

Ohtani’s Interpreter Behind Bars Again

The original interpreter we’re talking about is one Ippei Mizuhara. He reported to federal prison the same day Ohtani returned to pitching. It officially ended the saga that captivated the sports world for months, and left Ohtani $17 million less rich.

Mizuhara is now serving a 57-month sentence at Allenwood, a federal facility in Pennsylvania. He showed up quietly around noon — hours before Ohtani’s return in front of a sold-out crowd. Call it a coincidence, but it’s hard not to see the symbolism: one man climbing back into the spotlight, the other fading into the shadows.

By now, most people know how Mizuhara ended up here. He wasn’t just a translator, but Ohtani’s right-hand man. The two were inseparable. Video games. Meals. Travel. Mizuhara was there for it all. And he used that same trust to rob the most recognizable face in baseball.

Siphoning money from Ohtani’s bank account, Mizuhara placed more than 19,000 wagers between 2021 and 2024, totaling over $325 million in betting volume. At his worst, he impersonated Ohtani on calls with banks to push through fraudulent transfers. In the end, Mizuhara was down roughly $40 million and spiraling.

Since California sports betting remains banned, Mizuhara was placing bets with Matt Bowyer, an illegal bookie who’s also facing his own sentencing. Prosecutors say Mizuhara wired at least $4.5 million to Bowyer’s crew while under federal investigation. When the house of cards collapsed, Mizuhara was fired by the Dodgers, charged with bank fraud and tax fraud, and ultimately sentenced to just under five years.

Why Mizuhura’s Story STILL Resonates

There’s a reason this story blew up. It wasn’t just the dollar amount. Or that Mizuhara was stealing from an all-time talent. It was the betrayal. The proximity. The realization that someone so close, so trusted, could do something this evil — and for something as dumb as gambling.

What stood out during sentencing was just how overwhelmed Mizuhara seemed. He begged the court for mercy. Asked to serve time in California to stay closer to his family. In the end, he got neither. And as a Japanese citizen, he’s now expected to be deported after his prison term.

But what should really have people’s attention isn’t what happened to Mizuhara — it’s what could still happen elsewhere.

More Gambling Scandals To Follow?

Legal sports betting has exploded in the United States. But regulation? That part’s still catching up. As more money floods into betting — and more athletes, trainers, and employees find themselves within reach of it — you’re going to see more scandals like this.

Heck, it’s already happened. The NBA betting world was rocked by its own scandal involving a player. Jontay Porter of the Toronto Raptors was banned for life for betting (and possibly rigging) games he was involved in. It’s believed he might have been part of a bigger conspiracy that involves more NBA players, though the lid hasn’t been blown off quite yet.

Inevitably, when more scandals transpire, it’ll always go back to Mizuhara since it was the first of its kind. But in reality, it’s not about Mizuhara or any single player. It’s a system problem. From team employees to tech workers at sportsbooks, the temptation is everywhere. That temptation is going to get more people than just Porter or Mizuhara.

For Mizuhara, the road ends in a prison cell 75 miles north of Harrisburg. But for sports betting, the story’s just getting started. The industry has been taken out of the shadows of offshore betting and into the big leagues — literally and figuratively.

The post Ohtani Gambling Scandal Comes Full Circle appeared first on My Top Sportsbooks.