Trends, News & Interesting Reads

The town of Gay Head (Aquinnah) on Martha’s Vineyard has returned to court to ask a U.S. district court judge to require the Wampanoag Tribe to get building permits for their planned land based and online casino development. Even though the Wampanoag tribe succeeded in getting their casino project OK’d in federal court, the town isn’t relenting in its objective to exert its authority.

The Department of Justice’s recent attempt to apply the 1961 Wire Act to online lottery and Vegas casino online betting was ruled unconstitutional by a U.S. District Judge. Judge Paul Barbadoro ruled that the DOJ was acting outside its authority in applying a wider interpretation to the ban on interstate online wagering.

OK, so you enjoy playing your online casino games at Grande Vegas - who doesn't?!?  All is great for online games.  But once in a while you want to pack your bags and head off to a real casino.  Whether it be for some excitement, as part of your vacation or for a bit of R&R, you probably have hopes of going home with more money than you had when you arrived. 

A long-awaited piece of legislation that will expand Illinois' Vegas casino industry has passed the Illinois legislature and been signed into law. The  so-called “gambling-expansion legislation” will allow a casino to be built in the southern suburbs of Chicago. Now, the question on everyone’s minds is, where?

Gaming today, including video games, social media games and online casino games is a $99.6 billion industry. From land-based casinos to online and mobile casino sites, VR and AR games,  video gaming and other types of online and offline gaming activities, the industry is growing quickly. Industry observers credit social media for much of the rise, especially social gaming which is worth $2.15 billion in the U.S. alone.

The Comanche Tribe’s battle against the development of a Chicksaw Casino in Terral Oklahoma, near their native lands, seems to be at a standstill. The Comanches are fighting to prevent the Chicksaws from opening a rival casino project that was approved by the Interior Department with no consultation with the Comanches.

On May 15th, the House of Representatives passed the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Reservation Reaffirmation Act (HR 312) which could signal the end of the Mashpee Wampanoag struggle to open a Vegas Casino on their Massachusetts lands.

Wynn Resorts announced that talks with MGM Vegas Casino Resorts about a potential sale of its newly built integrated resort, located in Everett, outside of Boston, have ended without a deal.

Freemont Street Casino patrons will soon be able to add sports betting to their gaming pursuits. The land-based and online casino sportsbooks will enable sports enthusiasts to place bets on any of dozens of sporting events while the games are in play.

The Industry Group for Responsible Gambling (IGRG) has confirmed that a voluntary ban on TV gambling advertisements during live sporting events will go into effect this summer - that would include advertisements for our very own Grande Vegas Casino. The IGRG is a collective body for the UK’s five main gambling trade associations. This ban comes as a result of a number of recent changes to the IGRG’s self-imposed Gambling Industry Code for Socially Responsible Advertising.