See that fella? It’s certified Bad Guy Sen. Mike Crapo (R) and he’s grinning because he stuck it to you big time and looks to get away with it. To steal from Vital Vegas author Scott Roeben, Crapo has the perfect last name for someone who gleefully took a big, steaming dump on the gambling public. He’s the evil genius behind the OBBBA tax hike on gamblers, which got passed because most of Crapo’s colleagues were too clueless to study the bill … and because they were under heavy White House pressure to move the damn thing.
However, Crapo crapped on the wrong guy, a Good Guy. He’s stirred the ire of a popular national figure with vast bipartisan popularity. No, we don’t mean Rep. Dina Titus (D). We’re talking about slot influencer par excellence Brian Christopher. As he explains it, you’re scot-free if you lose much more than you win. That applies to the vast majority of gamblers—or else the casinos would be out of business. But it also means that when you win big or steadily, you ultimately lose. And, as Christopher bottom-lines it, “The reality is gambling taxes, like other ‘sin’ taxes, are juicy targets when attempting to balance budgets.” Meaning that the odds favor Crapo, another depressing thought.
Not only is Christopher taking on Crapo, he’s also questioning the veracity of claims that the IRS lockdown on slot jackpots has been raised to $2,000. His conclusion is that “the waters are too muddy to declare victory that this change occurred. We’re encouraging players to presume it hasn’t changed until more clarity comes out around this. The fact that many industry people are being very quiet on this instead of shouting this change from the rooftops (everyone everywhere seemingly has been asking for an increase for years) gives some credence to the fact that it probably didn’t happen.”
It’s good to have player champions like Christopher because Big Gaming sure doesn’t care. We’ve just wrapped up Earnings Fortnight and nary a peep was heard from The Powers That Be sympathizing with players’ new tax burden, even though it’s a possible disincentive to business—and an unwitting boon to the illegal, offshore betting industry. (More of that in a moment.) No, we heard plenty about how companies will be pocketing as much as $100 million more a year thanks to Trumpian tax cuts. Don’t you just love it when the rich get even richer and you don’t? There was even some celebration of the much-hyped rescinding of taxes on (some) tips. This was expressed in two ways. Most companies gloated that they’d make that back, too, when tipped workers gambled the extra money away. And Full House Resorts CEO Dan Lee (pictured) boasted he’d now have a cutting rejoinder for any tipped worker who wanted a pay increase. Nice.
If Big Gaming is apparently oblivious to the incentive that Congress just gifted to their black-market rivals, states attorneys general are not. All 50 of them—that’s right, 5-0—signed and sent letters to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi. They’d like her to take some time off from chasing phantoms and go after offshore i-gaming operators who prey on the American public. So far, we’ve had a deafening silence from Bondi, who is too busy prosecuting people who weaponize soggy Subway lunchmeat (“an example of the Deep State,” solemnly quoth Bondi). But, after four comatose years of Merrick Garland and now the Great Salami Caper, it may be awfully optimistic to expect the Justice Department to take up the cudgels on behalf of casinos.
Finally, we have a the sad case of a Good Guy turned Bad Guy. Even when he opposed casino expansion in Indiana, then-Gov. Mike Pence (R) had to be admired for his rectitude. One company tried overtly to buy his compliance with George campaign contributions. Pence wasn’t for sale. We respect that. But now he’s come out in favor of the Crapo Tax (let’s call that spade a spade). His front group, Advancing American Freedom, would like to advance your freedom to gamble by taxing it out of sight. Or, as they put it, “why should American taxpayers foot the tax bill for sports gambling? Congress should encourage a pro-growth tax code by declining to reinstate full expensing for gambling losses.”
How, you might reasonably ask, taxing John Q. Gambler further promote “growth”? The gonzo explanation is that taxing gambling “funds the growth of government.” By that yardstick, AAF and Pence should be for lowering taxes on gamblers. After all, the Crapo Tax is slated to raise $1.1 billion over 10 years. But don’t try to use logic with ideologues. They’re tantamount to religious fanatics. Midway through its screed, AAF gives the plot away: “Many Americans could stop gambling due to the tax consequences.” That’s what they really want. A fellow traveler, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R, above), rationalized a proposed—and rejected—doubling of the Buckeye State’s sports betting tax by lamenting that a previous tax hike had failed to discourage people from betting on sports. Our bottom line: Beware those who endeavor to legislate morality.
Not Ready for Prime Time. That’d be European iGaming concern Codere Online. Above you see a screen shot of a “balance sheet” exactly as it appeared online during the 2Q25 earnings call. Does it appear blurry? Illegible? The product of delirium tremens? All of the above? Lord knows what Codere was thinking when they put that up, but for a supposedly high-tech company it’s laughable. If Codere wants to play with the big iGaming boys, it can’t afford this kind of Amateur Hour.
JOTTINGS: Speaking of Good Guys, Circa CEO Derek Stevens is to be congratulated. His Circa Sports just won one of just two ‘untethered’ (i.e., not licensed to a physical casino) sports betting licenses in Missouri. Who did he beat out? None other than mammoth FanDuel. The remaining license went to DraftKings. It’s a big win for the latter and an even bigger one for Stevens. He proved a gracious winner, saying in part, “Winning one of Missouri’s first two untethered mobile betting licenses is a great honor. We came in as the long shot against national giants like DraftKings and FanDuel, but our licensure approval today proves there’s room for a different kind of operator.” Indeed there is and we wish Circa Sports every success, starting Dec. 1 …
For all the denial in Big Gaming, there’s definitely an attendance problem at casinos. However, it varies widely from market to market (flat in Pennsylvania, -5% in Atlantic City, -9% in Detroit). The silver lining is that spend per visitor is up a bit … MGM Resorts International is prepared, it says, to plow $3.2 billion into MGM Empire City, should it get one of the New York City Class III licenses. (If it doesn’t, it’s probably doomed.) Unfortunately for MGM, New York State’s top gambling regulator has made it clear that he’s not forgotten about a little thing called money laundering, of which Leo the Lion has been guilty. That could be very problematic when the final decisions are made … Getting back to Derek Stevens, he recently went on Fox Business to scoff at Las Vegas‘ current doldrums. Then he pulled all the live table games out of the Golden Gate. Should we judge Derek by what he says or what he actually does? … Evil days have fallen upon Resorts World Sentosa. The Genting Group megaresort in Singapore has sunk to 28% market share, an unalloyed triumph for rival Marina Bay Sands. The latter’s 2Q25 haul of $778 million could equal or even surpass what it will take Resorts World an entire year to make … Congratulations to tribal Snoqualmie Casino, which has added a hotel tower after seven years of striving. To read about it, the 210-room getaway sounds pretty posh.
Finally … tomorrow we celebrate a birthday, as we turn 64. The writer, that is. Not S&G, which only feels like it’s been around since 1961. We’re going to mark the occasion with a trip to Atlanta‘s Fernbank Museum, to check out some cute turtles.
Happy Birthday from a fellow boomer
Thank you, Gary.
Happy birthday, YOUNG man!