Pennsylvania casinos are cutting slot inventory over poor performance, with one placing blame on the unregulated skill game machines found in convenience stores and gas stations.

Rivers Pittsburg received permission from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) to remove 302 slots from its casino floor. While it acknowledged the need for newer machines, the casino put most of the blame on the widespread availability of skill games, which it says are just unregulated slots.

The casino industry continues to attack skill games for loss of revenue, yet these losses don’t seem to appear in any of their reporting. While they spin misleading information, we will stick to the facts. The fact is, that skill games are a legal source of income that Pennsylvania’s small businesses rely on every day to make ends meet, Chief Public Affairs Officer, Michael Barley, Pace-O-Matic, manufacturer of skill games.

Pennsylvania’s retail casinos aren’t the only ones experiencing a slowdown. Even Nevada and New Jersey—states almost synonymous with gambling—have been feeling it. Definitively attributing the pinch to any particular cause is harder.

While the state legislature remains deadlocked, some local lawmakers have taken independent action. Days after the Supreme Court allowed the skill games to operate, the Philadelphia City Council banned skill games inside gas stations and convenience stores. As expected, skill game manufacturers and operators responded with a lawsuit.

Rodgers was banned from pro football a year ago after a league probe found that the then-Indianapolis Colts player placed bets through a legal online sportsbook in Indiana.

The Colts cut Rodgers after his suspension was handed down. The Eagles signed the free agent in August.

Rodgers’ reinstatement allows him to immediately resume all team activities in Philadelphia. The Eagles and the rest of the NFL are readying for the NFL Draft that begins on Thursday night.

20 yards and no touchdowns entangle Kayson Boutte, plus 8,900 wagers.

Rodgers is one of more than a dozen players who have been suspended since 2018 for violating the league’s gambling policy. The regulations prohibit all team members, referees, and front-office staff from betting on any NFL game regardless of whether they’re directly participating or involved.

Dekkers only 20 when he allegedly wagered.

An investigation last year determined that Rodgers made over 100 bets on NFL games, including a prop bet on Colts running back Jonathan Taylor that won $1,000. Rodgers was never determined to have thrown or tried to fix a game, but he did bet on his team winning and Taylor rushing for more yards than the total oddsmakers had for his over/under.

Game Integrity 

Legal sports betting in the US is more widespread than ever, and that’s heightened concerns about game integrity among officials of the “big four” — the NFL, MLB, the NBA, and the NHL.

The NBA recently took the drastic step of issuing Jontay Porter a lifetime ban after it was discovered that the Toronto Raptors franchise player tried to fix games and threw a performance for the benefit of bettors. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said there is “nothing more important” than protecting the integrity of the sport, which Porter threatened.

Betting scandals have also recently rocked MLB, most noteworthy being the controversy involving Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter who allegedly stole millions of dollars from his boss to fund his sports betting activity.

 The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) have warned that an unregistered gaming site is fraudulently using the Casino Rama name in social media advertising to draw unsuspecting players to its own site.

In a joint advisory, the OPP and the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) said that online gambling adverts that have been promoting gaming offerings allegedly provided by Casino Rama have no association with the Gateway Casinos & Entertainment-operated casino. In reality, the ads direct the public to a website belonging to WinSpirit Casino, which operates as an unregistered gaming platform. The OPP’s Investigation and Enforcement Bureau (IEB) was notified of the suspected fraudulent marketing on April 11.

“Residents of Ontario who opt for online gambling are urged to exercise caution when encountering such advertisements and to verify that the gaming site they intend to use is registered with the AGCO,” the OPP said in a statement.

Police stress that Casino Rama has no affiliation with any unregistered online casinos. The IEB and AGCO jointly reminded the public to exercise caution when choosing to access online casino gaming sites found through social media advertisements.

The lawsuit, filed under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), targets high-level executives at Grand Casino Hinckley, Grand Casino Mille Lacs and Treasure Island Resort and Casino.

The lawsuit claims that these casinos have an “unlawful and unfair competitive advantage” by offering Class III card games without authorization from the state of Minnesota and tribal gaming compacts.

Running Aces President and CEO Taro Ito said: “All we have always sought is to be treated fairly, compete on a level playing field, take advantage of improvements within the pari-mutuel betting environment and operate without fear of being eliminated.”

It is our sincerest wish to have our day in court and let Class III games of chance include popular casino games such as slot machines, video poker, roulette, craps, baccarat and blackjack. It is carried out under a compact negotiated between each tribe and the state government.

Running Aces seeks to recover damages and seeks an injunction against the alleged illegal gambling activities.

Two Delaware legislators are looking to shake up the state’s sports betting market, which just saw its first online sportsbook launch in December.

Reps. Frank Cooke and William Bush introduced HB 365 Thursday. The bill authorizes two skins each for the state’s three casinos.

In June 2018, Delaware was the first state outside of Nevada to take a legal single sport bet after the repeal of PASPA, but progress has moved at a glacial pace since then. BetRivers is now the sole provider of Delaware sports betting through a multi-year agreement signed last year.

How a transition would work should the bill pass is not entirely clear. Requests for comment from sponsors, the Delaware Lottery and Rush Street Interactive went unreturned by publication.

Delaware sports betting bill details

The biggest note about HB 365 is that it gives operators incentive to hand out promotions to acquire bettors. Sportsbooks could deduct 2.5% of monthly handle from taxable revenue through June 2025. That drops to a flat 2% moving forward in July 2025.

That deduction amount could be raised by the director of the Delaware Lottery at their discretion “when … the interests of the lottery system will be served thereby.”

The sportsbooks would be taxed at 18% of adjusted gross sports lottery receipts, which is revenue minus promotions and the federal excise tax. Another 1.5% of that adjusted revenue would be contributed to horse racing purses.