California AG Proposes New Cardroom Regs
California Attorney General Rob Bonta has proposed new sets of regulations for the state’s cardrooms that would have an immense impact on operations, at the same time that the state’s gaming tribes are suing the cardrooms over the use of third party player proposition services (TPPPS), which tribes say violate their exclusivity for banked card games.
According to the Sun, the regulations would require player-dealers to be seated at the table, and players would not be able to wager directly against a TPPPS unless they are in the dealer position. Additionally, the player-dealer role would have to rotate once per hour, and TPPPS would be barred from settling any wagers when not occupying said role.
Blackjack would also essentially be banned—not completely, but the new regulations would only allow games that don’t have a “bust” feature and don’t have a non-21 target point. Each game that previously did not comply with the new rules would have to be reapproved by the state.
Per the state’s own Standardized Regulatory Impact Analysis report, the new rules would likely slash cardroom revenue by 50 percent and customer count by 25 percent. Cardrooms would lose nearly $400 million, the state estimated, while tribal casinos would gain some $200 million.
Uncertainty Shrouds Tribal-CFTC Call
Leaders of U.S. tribes active in gaming will take part in a virtual meeting on Thursday with Caroline Pham, acting chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The call is expected to centre around sports event contracts on prediction markets. That’s about all that anyone knows so far, including those involved.
The Indian Gaming Association’s Victor Rocha and Jason Giles held another webinar May 28 in their New Normal series in anticipation of the call. This week’s guests included tribal attorneys Bradley Bledsoe Downes and Joseph Webster, as well as Rodney Butler, chairman of Connecticut’s Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, one of the biggest and most influential gaming tribes in the U.S.
The quintet agreed that what they’ll hear on the May 29 call is almost a complete unknown. Previously, the CFTC had scheduled an all-day event with multiple participants in Washington, DC on 30 April.
Nothing about that meeting, including the date, was ever publicly confirmed. The only thing that was confirmed was the cancellation of the event beforehand, with no explanation offered. News of the new, tribal-only call came as a surprise when it was first reported by InGame earlier this month.
“There hasn’t been much information other than an invitation,” Downes lamented. “I feel like this is at best a courtesy.”
Butler offered comments regarding prediction markets that were noteworthy, given that he is among the most powerful tribal leaders to speak directly on the issue thus far. His tribe and the Mohegan Tribe are compacted with the state of Connecticut for gaming exclusivity.
The two groups have so far given the state billions of dollars in revenue, but those agreements, as well as similar ones in other states, could be in jeopardy if the rise of prediction markets is not curbed.
“It’s really simple: They’re violating our agreements, they’re violating our compacts that we’ve worked very hard for…. It just completely circumvents that government-to-government relationship,” Butler said.
So far, Connecticut has not been among the litany of states that have sent cease-and-desist orders or entered into lawsuits with prediction markets such as Kalshi and Crypto.com. Butler mentioned that the state’s attorney general and Department of Consumer Protection are looking into the matter and “will weigh in” at some point.
“We have a very lucrative agreement for exclusivity in Connecticut, and many tribes have that throughout the country and that will be impacted immediately,” he said.
Panelists spent time analyzing the CFTC, a federal agency perhaps getting more attention than it ever has due to prediction markets. Historically, the commodities and derivatives markets have been niche and largely tied to agriculture. Rocha jokingly referred to the commission as the “orange juice police.”
The idea of the CFTC now becoming a de facto national sports betting regulator is worrisome, including potentially for the commission itself. When the commission was appealing election betting under the Biden administration, it cited a lack of desire to police these new markets. The appeal was dropped this year after President Donald Trump took office.
“I don’t think anyone ever predicted, no pun intended, that there would be sports betting under the guise of prediction markets,” Downes said.
Wildhorse Casino Announces Details of $100 Million Expansion
Oregon’s Wildhorse Resort & Casino May 28 announced the first round of details for a $100 million expansion of the property that is slated to be completed in 2027. The expansion is expected to include a new, 214-room hotel tower, a 15,000-square-foot convention center and a new restaurant. More details about the expansion will be released as time goes on,officials said.
“We want to create more memorable experiences through forward-thinking investments in areas that impact our guests as soon as they walk in our doors,” CEO Gary E. George said in a statement. “A consistent, high-quality casino experience is the difference for consumers and the region.”
Wind River Names New CEO
Wyoming’s Wind River Hotel and Casino has named Jenni Wildcat as its next CEO, following the departure of former CEO Patrick Leckrone. Leckrone was at the center of a bizarre saga from last year in which the Northern Arapaho’s tribal council directed its business arm to fire him, to which the business refused. His departure came days before another tribal meeting on the matter was scheduled.
“The Wind River Reservation is my home and where I’ve chosen to raise my family,” Wildcat said in a statement. “I feel blessed with the opportunity to lead the Northern Arapaho gaming enterprise and Wind River Hotel and Casino, which is such an important community gathering spot and economic engine.”
