The reels are always spinning in the gambling industry, and “The Double Down” is here every Friday to catch you up on all of the week’s biggest news. Sports Handle’s “Get a Grip” rounds up everything on the sports betting side, and US Bets provides the best of the rest: brick-and-mortar happenings, online casino developments, poker headlines, and more. So pull up a chair, crunch the numbers, and slide forward another stack of chips.
The billion-dollar dream
Just what America needs: another billionaire.
The Powerball jackpot hit a record $2.04 billion for Tuesday morning’s drawing, making for a fun high-stakes diversion before much of the country sweated out various other, arguably higher-stakes number reveals that evening. (Side note: Going forward, can we hire Steve Kornacki to announce the lottery numbers and then spend as long as he wants dissecting the digits on the big board? Would anyone be opposed to this?)
There was one winner in the drawing, identity still unknown, but we know the ticket was sold at Joe’s Service Center in Altadena, California, making Joe’s owner Joe Chahayed a millionaire, as the Associated Press reported. As for the potential double-billionaire, it must be noted that in order to collect that full amount, they would need to spread it over 29 years. If they opt for the lump sum, it’s “only” worth $997.6 million.
Phew. America may not end up with another billionaire after all.
The drawing was originally scheduled for Monday night, but got delayed and lined up with Election Day because of some problems processing sales data in Minnesota. Presumably, it was worth the extra wait for the grand prize winner.
There are, of course, smaller prizes awarded with every drawing. For example, in the previous drawing, for a mere $1.6 billion on Saturday, a lottery player in Michigan won a cool million bucks by matching all five white numbers but not the red Powerball number.
While Powerball fever swept the nation, one high-profile gambler (well, sorta gambler), Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale, took the opportunity to vent about lotteries in general. He tweeted out a thread calling the lottery a “silent, but possibly deadly drain on your financial well-being.”
Mack also called himself “the world’s most famous gambler” — so, you know, grain of salt and all that. He’s probably just jealous because a $75 million sports betting windfall seems like small potatoes now.
This week on Gamble On …
Every Thursday, US Bets drops a new episode of the Gamble On podcast, and this week’s welcomed political betting expert Paul Krishamurty for a dissection of what the wagering markets got wrong about Tuesday’s midterms, how early is too early to start betting against former President Trump in 2024, and whether polls full of “undecideds” count for much:
The election betting markets largely had it wrong the last few weeks — maybe because they tailed polls that didn’t tell the whole story. @paulmotty dissects the polling problems on the latest #GambleOn (full podcast: https://t.co/dmdYCOUQHd) pic.twitter.com/RXl8M0NgPP
— US Bets (@US_Bets) November 11, 2022
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U.S. gaming rev clears $15B in record-setting quarter
Commercial gaming revenue in the U.S. topped $15 billion for the first time ever in a record-setting third quarter, flying in the face of chilly macroeconomic trends that have hampered just about every other industry.
Revenue from casino games, sports betting, and iGaming hit $15.17 billion for the quarter, 2% higher than the previous record set in the second quarter of 2022 and up 8.8% year-over-year. Slots and table games accounted for $12.27 billion, or 80.9%, of this total, as 16 states set all-time quarterly gaming revenue records.
Meanwhile, sports betting and iGaming combined for $2.89 billion on the quarter, or 19.1% of total commercial gaming revenue, according to American Gaming Association figures.
— Mike Seely
More from around the gaming biz
IT’S NOT $2 BILLION, BUT … A Delaware woman claimed $100,000 in the lottery — then on her way home she won $300,000 more [CNN]
FERTITTA IN ON WYNN: Why has Tilman Fertitta bought so much Wynn Resorts stock? [Las Vegas Review-Journal]
OLD LINE, BIG MONEY: Maryland’s casinos have biggest month ever [WTOP]
HEFTY HORSE HANDLE: Breeders’ Cup handle hits record $189 million [Horse Racing Nation]
LEAVING THE LEVEE: Proposal would move Tunica County casinos from flood areas, boost local economy [Yahoo! News]
MIXED RESULTS ON DIVERSITY: Encore Boston Harbor missed target for hiring women, gets high marks for hiring local, people of color [MassLive]
OMAHA! OMAHA! Nebraska commission approves casino operator license for Omaha WarHorse complex [Omaha World-Herald]
LOTTERY INDUSTRY EXEC ON BOARD: Scientific Games’ Schaefer named to National Council on Problem Gambling’s board of directors [CDC Gaming Reports]
Image: Blundell Design
