This week’s gambling news discusses the possibility of California sports betting as voters there may see legislation this fall. Plus, a new poll shows growing support for California sports betting regulation! We also talk about the latest announcement from Caesars Entertainment about one of their Las Vegas casinos!
Hello friends, and welcome to This Week in Gambling, where all the leaves are brown and the sky is grey. But folks are dreamin’ of California sports betting on this winter’s day! And they just might get it this fall! But first, this week’s big story is a follow-up to a show we did two weeks ago about casinos in Las Vegas that are either being sold or changing their names… one of which is Bally’s, owned by Caesar’s Entertainment, which will be rebranded as the Las Vegas Horseshoe before the end of this year.
However, reports are that Caesars plans to sell another Las Vegas Strip casino. In fact, they report that a sale is already in progress, and an announcement of that sale could come at any moment! So which one of Caesar’s properties are they looking to move? That’s a very good question. No one outside of Caesar’s Corporation knows for sure which property of theirs is on the market … only that it’s on the Las Vegas Strip. So let’s discuss Caesar’s properties on Las Vegas Boulevard and I bet we can figure out which one it is:
First, right off the top we can eliminate the obvious in Caesar’s Palace! There’s no way Caesar’s is selling Caesar’s Palace! Of course. Nobu is part of that Caesar’s Palace complex, so we can take them off the list as well. Next, Bally’s. I really don’t think they’re selling Bally’s after pouring all that money into it and rebranding it as the Las Vegas Horseshoe! Then there’s the LINQ, which isn’t exactly high class, but it is the entrance to their High Roller Ferris Wheel attraction… I don’t think they’re selling that. Harrah’s is probably too important to their brand, and I don’t think they would move such an iconic piece of property.
Then there’s Flamingo, which is old but literally a Las Vegas landmark s, so I don’t think it’s Flamingo. Next, Paris is co-hosting the World Series of Poker and a nice mid-range property. I don’t think they’d sell Paris. Then there’s the Cromwell. It’s small, but arguably has the best location in all of Las Vegas, right smack on the corner of Flamingo and Las Vegas Boulevard. Which leaves, my friends, Planet Hollywood. If I were a betting man… and I am… that’s where my money would be. But I’ve been wrong before!
Now what about California sports betting? Well, we’ve all seen how well New York State has done since regulating the activity, and California is literally twice the population of New York State, so it’s easy to see the argument that the California sports betting market is a sleeping giant, just waiting to be woke up! The Berkeley Institute and the Los Angeles Times recently conducted a survey of voters and found that a full 45% of them were in favor of legalizing and regulating sports betting in California, while 22% of the population is undecided. That leaves a solid 33% as haters. But if it’s one thing that doing videos on YouTube has taught me is: There will always be haters!
Now, there may be as many as four different California sports betting bills on the ballot this fall. And with the tribes, the card rooms, the race tracks ,and outside influences all fighting over the same market share things are bound to get ugly and take a long time. But if New York State can get it done, there’s hope for everyone!
This week, our new game review is for the Monopoly Lunar New Year slot machine from Scientific Games! A medium volatility slot based on their popular Monopoly series, and enhanced with player favorite Asian themes! This is a three row, five real game that can expand, with an average return to player of nearly 96%! There are also five different jackpots, including the wide area progressive Lunar Jackpot! This video, along with more on California sports betting, can be found on our YouTube channel.