A breakdown of Drake’s bets shows that the famous rapper bet $472,000 on the Los Angeles Rams to win against the Cincinnati Bengals. Another $393,000 worth of bitcoin the rapper wagered that Odell Beckham Jr. would achieve at least 62.5 receiving yards. Finally, the last $393,000 bet was that Beckham would score a touchdown at any time during the game. Upon announcing the hefty bets, Drake submitted a caption reading “All bets are in on the family.”

Without a doubt, Sunday was Drake’s lucky day as he won two out of the three bets he placed. The $472,000 which the famous singer bet for the Rams to win against the Bengals brought him a hefty $712,000. Moreover, he also won the second bet once Beckham scored a touchdown. The $393,000 bet brought him another $711,000 in winnings. On the other hand, Beckham didn’t achieve 62.5 yards, which resulted in Drake losing $393,000. Still, the two initial bets which he placed and won brought him a whopping $1,432,000 prize payout.

Not Everyone Is as Lucky as Drake
Besides betting on the Super Bowl, last month a recent video showed that Drake enjoys online roulette as well. The video claimed that the famous rapper had placed a significant bet of $200,000 on online roulette. However, further investigation showed that the singer’s website, Stake, restricts single-bets on roulette to $20,000.

But not everyone was as lucky as Drake for the Super Bowl. Jim McIngvale, the famous businessman also known as “Mattress Mack” wagered a staggering $9.5 million in bets on the Super Bowl LVI. However, he didn’t pick the right team. Mattress Mack bet a total of $9.5 million hoping to see the Bengals win. If the team had won, Mack was in for a significant $16 million payout. Sadly, Mack’s $9.5 million wagers went kaput after the Bengals lost to the Rams.

The winner of a Las Vegas slot machine jackpot didn’t know he won more than $229,000 because of a “communications error” in the machine, the Nevada Gaming Control Board said.

Robert Taylor of Arizona won the jackpot Jan. 8 at Treasure Island Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. However, because of the error, a malfunction occurred “that prevented Mr. Taylor and casino personnel from realizing that a progressive jackpot had been won,” the gaming board said in a statement.

The news release says that once it had been confirmed that a jackpot had been won but hadn’t been dispensed, the gaming board undertook an extensive search to find the winner.

“The Nevada Gaming Control Board is charged with the strict regulation of the gaming industry, the protection of the gaming public, and ensuring that the industry benefits the State of Nevada,” said James Taylor, the chief of the board’s Enforcement Division. “I commend the agents of the Enforcement Division, particularly Agent Dan Nuqui, for ensuring that the public trust in the gaming industry remains strong by spending countless hours over two weeks to ensure that a patron is awarded winnings owed to him.”

After the information was reviewed, Taylor was identified, and on Jan. 28, he was notified about his winnings.

Taylor was scheduled to pick up his winnings over the weekend.

The country has been discussing re-regulating its gambling industry since at least 2021, and The Gambling Regulatory Authority of Singapore Bill will seek to establish a regulatory body that brings all oversight on the industry and its numerous permutations under the roof of a single agency.

This is a significant consolidation of regulation, given that Singapore now uses four independent agencies, to name the Singapore Totalisator Board, the Gambling Regulatory Unit, the Casino Regulatory Authority, and Singapore Police Force to regulate different parts of the industry. These bodies will now operate under the same agency name and continue to carry out their oversight on the industry.

Understanding the Changes to Gambling
Asgam was the media to first report extensively on the developments and cited the MHA, which is confident that the fast-evolving gambling industry requires actualization of the current gambling framework and streamlining of the governing processes:

“To stay ahead of technological and global trends, respond more adequately to emerging gambling products and take a more holistic and coherent approach to gambling policies and issues, we should rationalize and consolidate.”

Singaporean Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)
The Gambling Regulatory Authority of Singapore Bill is joined by the Gambling Control Bill, which will address how the industry is changing and what new challenges consumers and businesses face. This bill will pave the framework for addressing non-casino gambling and unlawful gambling offense while repealing four existing acts, specifically the Betting Act, the Private Lotteries Act, Remote Gambling Act and Gaming Houses Act.

The Gambling Control Bill will cover all activities that may be treated as gambling at some point under MHA’s current understanding of what this industry is. Financial mechanisms are not going to be brought under gambling regulation, unlike other jurisdictions. In the United Kingdom, there has been growing support for including cryptocurrencies in the re-regulation of the Gambling Act.

More Bills Expected to Come
Whether the Gambling Act review draft would contain any such language is still a few months from being known. Social gambling will be exempted as well. That is to say that private games between friends may now be carried out without the risk of legal repercussions. The bill will also introduce a licensing regime for various gambling establishments in the country.

The MHA is also planning to add a third bill called the Casino Control Bill, which will clarify how GRA would regulate casinos. As a reminder, Singapore introduced a new Gambling Duties Bill that increases taxes on casinos.

If I asked you for the two main reasons why you enjoy playing slot machines, you would probably say it’s for entertainment and the chance to win some cash. Am I right? While the fun part can be taken for granted, especially when you have so many new games to try at TwinSpires Casino, winning some money is not guaranteed.

The unfortunate truth is that you are not expected to win on slot machines in the long term if you were to play 24/7. But, and this is the massive lure of slots, somebody has to win sometimes, and often that can be a life-changing amount.

We like to tell you about our big winners here at TwinSpires Casino, just to show that our players can and do win sizeable amounts. In recent weeks, we told you about Justin F. from Pennsylvania, who won $93,178 on Divine Fortune. The good news came just days after Timothy W. scooped $88,906.61 on Mercy of Gods.

But the question remains, how to pick a winning slot machine?

How to Pick a Slot Machine for Various Outcomes
It’s a good question but also a slightly tricky one to answer. That’s because, for some casino players, their definition of winning is different from others. Let me explain.

New or recreational casino slot players are generally happy when their slot machine of choice pays out regularly. They may not win a large amount, but they like it when winning spins happen often, and bonus rounds trigger reasonable rewards.

But regular players with more of a gambling intent don’t like these smaller, regular payouts. They are more likely to go for the jackpot games with the lure of a big payout.

With this in mind, we can look at three methods when it comes to finding how to pick a slot machine to win cash.

Slots RTP
The return to player percentage, or RTP, is a published figure for every slot game, giving an accurate figure based on what would happen if a player were to play endlessly. A figure of around 97% is considered a high RTP, meaning, statistically at least, that if you bet $100 on the game, you might expect to get $97 back.

A low RTP is around 94% or under. But the reason for the lower RTP is that the slot developer has built-in fewer winning chances because it is holding back for a larger, or potentially a jackpot, top prize. This is something that serious slots players love.

To find the RTP of a slot game, you can search for it in the game’s paytable information, or you can look online.

Volatility
You may hear a slot machine described as low or high volatility. It’s not quite the same as RTP and refers to how likely or unlikely it is that a number of your sessions will have similar outcomes.

A slot game with low volatility will probably take your money at the same slow rate or possibly let you bank a smallish profit on a session. High volatility games might give you a large winning session one day but then leave you quite out of pocket the next.

Slots developers tend not to advertise a game’s volatility too much because they think “high volatility” sounds negative. But just like a lower RTP, serious casino players are not put off by high volatility games

Reviews and News
The final way to pick a winning slot machine is to read up on the news and reviews. As I mentioned earlier in this piece, we regularly inform you about our big winners in our casino news section and name the winning slot game. Divine Fortune comes up time and again – there’s a free tip for you!

Our regular slot game reviews will also indicate if a game is expected to be high or low in terms of RTP and vulnerability.

Finally, each month we tell you about Hot and Cold slots – the slot machines that are on a winning run and those that have been cold and due a big payout streak.

Get Lucky at TwinSpires Casino
Now that you’ve read the tips on how to pick a winning slot machine, it’s time to put your knowledge to the test. If you have not already done so, register for an account at TwinSpires Casino. When you do, be sure to claim the generous welcome bonus because that’s your first move to making your cash go further.

Make your first deposit, then begin to explore the incredible variety of slots. Will you try Divine Fortune or one of the higher RTP slots like Blood Suckers at 98%? Good luck!

Something happened to PokerStars’ U.S.-facing product.

The poker site on Friday announced that its platform is inoperable in the ring-fenced markets of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. That’s everywhere the site operates legally within the United States.

“Due to unscheduled maintenance, all MTT’s have been cancelled until Monday at 10 am EST.
Our apologies for the inconvenience and thanks for your patience,” PokerStars tweeted.

The company later had to clarify that the crash also involved cash games.

PokerStars provided a bit more details in another follow-up tweet.

“Since the maintenance is unscheduled, we aren’t able to provide any concrete time frames. Rest assured it is not a privacy concern, just some technical issues that popped up. The cashier should be available on our downloadable software.”

According to PokerStars, players could still log in and manage their accounts.

“What we know we can bring to Terre Haute that we’ve brought to the Kentucky Derby is that sense of keeping our finger on the pulse, keeping our guests happy, and really listening to them and evolving and, and creating experiences that grow with them and grow with the times,” Vice President of Corporate Communications Tonya Abeln said. “What we really hope to do is to create that Kentucky Derby-like bucket list experience in Terre Haute, Indiana.”

A mywabashvalley.com team visited CDI in Kentucky in late January to get a behind-the-scenes exclusive look at its operations there as well as some first looks at the Queen of Terre Haute Casino.

The company filed an application with the Vigo County Area Planning Department on Jan. 7 to build the casino and other amenities off of East Margaret Avenue west of State Road 46. The approximately 50 acres of land would allow for future development as well as the planned resort.

For that initial project, CDI executives spent time in Terre Haute to learn what aspects of the city’s culture should be included in the design.

“As we looked at different imagery around town…you’ll start to see that pop up in the artwork around the property,” Senior Vice President of Gaming Operations Austin Miller said. “You’ll see it in the hotel rooms, you’ll see it in the lobbies and some of the pathways around.”

Miller said there were phases that some of the logos went through to reach their final form.

“We knew we wanted to have the state of Indiana reflected in the logo, you know, some of the imagery, the queen, the crown,” Miller explained. “So the logo just kept evolving over time. Then, at the Crossroads Sports Bar, we talked about Highway 40 and U.S. 41 and that’s the crossroads of America. So, I had to use that.
The name for the steakhouse inside the casino came from a piece of Terre Haute history that is pretty closely related to the origin of CDI.

“For the steakhouse, we weren’t sure what to call it,” Miller said. “But as we did more research, it turns out in the late 1800s, there was a racetrack there called the Four Corner Racetrack and there was a world champion horse that set a world record there.”

The casino layout, which is similar to the Derby City Gaming facility we toured in Louisville, is designed with guests in mind.

“If you walk our floor, you’ll feel that we take a lot of pride and we take our time and lay out the floor in a way that’s appealing to our guests,” Derby City Gaming President and General Manager Tim Bryant said.

During the visit, we got a look at the equivalent of the Crossroads Sports Bar at Derby City Gaming. Bryant said the company continues to replicate similar concepts due to their success among visitors, a sentiment Miller echoed when describing the gaming floor design.

“We don’t do traditional rows and rows of slot machines,” Miller said. “The traditional slot bank is six to eight games long and they just put them in a row after row after row. What we typically try to do is take people on a journey with a meandering pathway through the floor plan.”

Food options at the casino will be carefully chosen by the CDI team.

“What we’ll start to do is focus on what’s available locally in terms of food and where’s the gap and where can we fill the gap?” Miller explained. “We know what typically our casino guests like, but I want to tailor it to what Terre Haute wants and what Terre Haute needs.”

Dismissal of Lucy Luck, IGC case approved
The property’s hotel will offer many options for local and out-of-town guests.

“We have many levels of rooms where people can progress to,” Miller said. “If you come in with a standard room, then maybe you go to a junior suite and then a corner suite and then a super suite. And then with any luck you end up in the presidential.”

CDI execs said collaboration with Terre Haute leaders was essential throughout the planning process.

“We talked a lot with about the folks with the convention center and we want to supplement what they’re doing,” Miller said. “We don’t wanna compete with them, so our room is gonna be limited to 500 seats.”

And that collaboration won’t end once the Queen of Terre Haute is open and operating.

“From the beginning of this project, that’s been one of the things that we’ve been most excited about is an opportunity to support Vigo County and Terre Haute nonprofits,” Senior Vice President of Corporate Development Jason Sauer said. “And to support the Vigo County Community Plan for 2025. We as a company that’s gonna come in can tangibly support that plan and support it with real money, with three to four million a year that we think this property is gonna contribute to local nonprofits to supporting that local community development plan.”

“We’re building this for the folks in the Terre Haute region,” Miller said. “This isn’t a Churchill Downs monument we’re putting in there. This is gonna be part of the local, the fabric of the community.”

Move over New Jersey. New York is now the king of sports betting.

In the first month of legal online sports betting in New York, bettors placed more than $1.6 billion in wagers on the outcomes of games and related propositions, according to the State Gaming Commission. That beat the old record “handle” of $1.3 billion set by New Jersey bettors in October.

And it wasn’t even exactly a full month: New York didn’t launch online betting until Saturday, Jan. 8 and the State Gaming Commission calculated the numbers through Jan. 30. But that period coincided with the end of the NFL regular season and the playoffs that determined who will play in the Super Bowl on Feb. 13.

“New York supplanting New Jersey as the nation’s largest sports betting market was inevitable, but few thought it would take only three weeks,” said Mike Mazzeo, lead analyst at PlayNY.com, which offer news and insights about the gaming industry. “Betting should calm some once football season ends and operators slow their promotional spending. Still, it’s clear that New York is going to be the flagship sports betting market in the U.S. for the foreseeable future.”

That’s not all. Since New York has by far the highest tax rate on sports betting revenues in the country, it blew away the previous record for tax receipts in one month.

New York state earned $57.6 million in taxes on the revenues earned by sports betting operators in January. That’s more than double the previous record set by Pennsylvania in November. New York’s tax rate on sports betting revenues is 51%, while Pennsylvania has the second highest rate at 36%.

Fans who were left heartbroken over Adele’s cancelled Las Vegas residency can now wipe their tears and see a lookalike tribute act dedicated to the singer for free.

Tribute singer Janae Longo, 45, can be seen belting Adele’s most popular hits at the Tropicana. She bears an uncanny stage presence to that of the Grammy-winning British singer, casino bosses say. 

They’re so confident of Longo’s abilities, fans whose tickets to see the real Adele perform in Sin City were canceled have been offered the chance to come to the Tropicana for free until September 5.

‘My goal is to honor Adele, and I hope she knows that what I’m doing is out of respect and love,’ Longo told the New York Post. ‘I hope it makes her smile.’

This comes after the Hello singer received backlash from fans, who spent between $800 to $2,000 a pop, for cancelling her four-month long Weekends with Adele event at Caesar’s Palace in light of the COVID pandemic.