This week’s gambling news is about gambling expansion in Texas, a Massachusetts sports betting launch, and Missouri gambling legislation! There’s big talk about allowing Texas casino expansion and a Missouri sports betting bill,. Plus, Massachusetts is scheduled for sports bets early next year! And we have ridiculous gambling news from Ohio and a final update on California sports betting!
Howdy, y’all! And welcome to This Week is Gambling! Our last show before I take the week off for Thanksgiving. We have news to talk about from Missouri to Massachusetts, with news ridiculous from Ohio and gambling expansion in Texas… but we begin in California, where attempts to pass sports betting legislation fell flat on their ass!
This week’s big story is no surprise. In fact, we spoke about it just last week. Everyone expected California sports betting to fail… and it did. Spectacularly. There were two initiatives on the California ballot, both of which could have regulated sports betting in the state. Neither of which came anywhere in near the 50% of votes needed in order to pass. Prop 26 would have allowed sports betting at tribal casinos but only received 30% of the vote. Prop 27 would have allowed online sports betting in the state but only received 16% of the vote. So now, Californians will have to wait for legal sports betting until at least 2024.
Meanwhile. Massachusetts sports betting is getting ready for a launch early next year. State residents will be able to bet on the Super Bowl, with casinos taking in-person sports bets by late January. Online sports betting will have to wait, however… until at least March. And what about gambling in Missouri? Well, the “Show Me” state wants to see some sports betting as soon as possible! In fact, legislation to regulate the activity was just rolled out last week, with lawmakers calling it a top priority. After all, most of the states surrounding Missouri already have legal sports betting.
Then there’s gambling expansion in Texas, my home state, where the governor had promised that if he were re-elected he would consider the expansion of casino gambling and sports betting in the state… and he was just re-elected last week! So I reckon we’re going to find out right quick whether he was serious or just making some of those election year campaign promises. Now, Texas already has the lottery, and horse racing... and dog racing. And poker rooms… and a few tribal casinos! So what are a few more casinos and sports betting? Besides, Texans love to gamble! I should know! But if you don’t believe me, just ask the owners of the casinos in Louisiana and Oklahoma whose cars are filling their parking lots each weekend?
Just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday, this week’s game review is for the Turkey Revolt Extreme online slot from our friends at High 5 Games. It’s a five reel, four row, ten payline slot that comes with bonus spins and a bonus round, plus Stacked Wilds and Scatter Bucks! There’s a mobile version, so you can bring this game with you when you travel to Grandma’s house for Thanksgiving dinner! Find the full review for Turkey Revolt Extreme and hundreds of other games when you visit our YouTube channel!
And finally this week, in a story almost too ridiculous to believe. The Hard Rock Casino in Cincinnati, Ohio, will be opening a sports book on January 1st. And who better to place the first bet at their new Sportsbook than… baseball Legend Pete Rose! Yes, in what seems like a bad joke… or perhaps a publicity stunt gone horribly wrong… baseball Legend Pete Rose (the same Pete Rose barred from the Baseball Hall of Fame for betting on baseball games) is going to place the inaugural bet at the casinos new sports book when it opens in January. Thus proving that, indeed: sometimes truth really is stranger than fiction.