While all eyes were focussed on Donald Trump’s blowout presidential win, it wasn’t the only key question on a ballot that in true U.S. tradition had varied political addenda in different states, we report in this week’s Casino Cabbie “Letter From America”.
Several states also made significant decisions regarding gambling: Missouri, for example, approved legal sports betting, Virginia backed a new land-based casino, and Colorado revised its distribution of gaming tax revenue.
And that’s not all.
The election also proved a runaway success for Futures prediction platform KalshiEX, which processed millions of dollars in legal election trades.
Read on:
Missouri Breaking
In the early hours of last Wednesday morning, Missouri became the first state to approve sports betting in 2024. Voters managed in a single day what state legislators hadn’t achieved in years.
The ballot measure, asking voters to approve or reject retail and online sports betting in the state, passed by a nail-biting 50.074 percent of the vote. And means that 20 retail and 22 online gambling licences will soon be available in the “Show-Me” State.
Technically, sports betting could go live as early as December 5, but the Missouri Gaming Commission will likely take longer to iron out the finer regulatory details, such as licensing costs and conditions.
Election Betting Wins Big
Despite the polls showing a tight race, prediction markets favoured Trump in the final stretch of the election and ultimately proved spot on.
KalshiEX–the only U.S.-licensed platform authorised to host election markets–saw over US$700 million (£574m/€658m) traded across the entire election, with the presidential race accounting for over US$460 million (£377m/€432m) of that total.
Offshore platforms such as PredictIt and Polymarket also made a killing, with the latter reporting a massive U.S$3.2 billion (£2.62bn/€3bn) traded on the presidential result alone.
DraftKings’ Final Call
Moving away from the election, DraftKings has precipitously announced the closure of its Atlantic City live dealer studio on January 31, 2025, laying off over 100 staff.
The studio, which operates from inside Golden Nugget Casino, has provided New Jersey players with live content since 2016 and was the first live dealer studio in the U.S.
DraftKings acquired Golden Nugget Online Gaming for US$1.56 billion (£1.28bn/€1.43bn) in 2022 and is now planning to migrate its operations to an unnamed third-party studio.
Playing Hokie
In the latest betting scandal to hit college sports in the U.S., Hysier Miller, a senior player on Virginia Tech’s men’s basketball team, the Hokies, has been axed just as the season starts.
Miller previously played for the Temple Owls at Temple University in Philadelphia, where he was the team’s leading scorer last season, averaging 16 points per game.
His dismissal from the Hokies relates to a game played last season between the Temple Owls and the UAB Blazers–of the University of Alabama in Birmingham–which raised concerns about “suspicious” activity.
Details of the investigation have yet to be released and Virginia Tech has refused to comment further. But Miller’s permanent dismissal suggests there is enough evidence to confirm foul play.
Under Pressure
Legal pressure on sweepstake casino operators in the U.S. is mounting.
Now, following the example of bettors in Tennessee and Mississippi, losing gamblers in Connecticut have joined the fray and launched a class-action lawsuit against VGW accusing the operator of Chumba Casino, Global Poker and LuckyLand Slots of conducting illegal gambling.
The plaintiffs seek to regain their losses, alleging that VGW violated Connecticut Law and defrauded customers.
The lawsuit argues the company spent millions on deceptive advertising to promote its own legality and manipulate consumers into gambling illegally.
BetMGM’s Royal Flush
The Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) has approved BetMGM’s application to operate multi-state internet poker games, meaning players in Michigan and New Jersey can now compete against each other.
The approval is made under the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA), which was created in 2014 and allows signatory states–Michigan, New Jersey, Delaware, Nevada, and West Virginia—to run shared liquidity poker games across borders.
“This represents a significant step forward in the development of online gaming within our state boundaries,” said MGCB Executive Director Henry Williams.
“We are confident that the partnership with BetMGM will enhance the gaming experience for Michigan players and drive growth in the industry.”
