Casino City’s Friday Five: Jackpots, fines and openings edition

Spain’s gambling regulator has been busy cracking down on illegal gambling, hitting operators without a license with fines. In addition this week, we have a jackpot from a California casino, two payouts from a Las Vegas property, Michigan sending out cease-and-desist letters, and a Las Vegas Strip casino reopening its poker room.

Let’s begin on the West Coast:

5. Jamul Casino pays out blackjack jackpot
A guest who wished to remain anonymous, turned a $5 side bet into $190,254 at Jamul Casino Resort in California.

The guest was playing blackjack with the Super 4 Pays side bet when they hit a Diamond Royal Flush. The winning combination occurred when the dealer had an Ace and King of Diamonds, while the guest held the Jack and Queen of Diamonds. What would have been a losing hand in blackjack, turned into a life-changing amount of money due to the side bet.

4. Two major slot wins at Fontainebleau Las Vegas
It was a big weekend at Fontainebleau Las Vegas.

On 9 May, a guest from California wagered $500 on a high-limit Dragon Link progressive slot, winning a $1,313,000 jackpot.

Just a day later, another guest from California won the Grand Progressive jackpot worth $2,462,616 on a Frankenstein slot machine. The guest wagered $50 on a $2 denomination, with the bonus awarded on the game’s “It’s Alive” feature.

Fortune favored another guest this weekend. A $50 bet on Frankenstein landed the Grand Progressive for a $2.46 million win. pic.twitter.com/FsbpXl44md
— Fontainebleau Las Vegas (@fblasvegas) May 11, 2025

3. Michigan issues four cease-and-desist orders
The Michigan Gaming Control Board issued cease-and-desist orders to four unlicensed online gambling operators — You Wager, Bet Pop Casino, Wager 7, and Discount Wager — for offering illegal gambling services to Michigan residents.

These platforms are in violation of Michigan’s Lawful Internet Gaming Act, the Michigan Gaming Control and Revenue Act, and the Michigan Penal Code.

Investigations by the MGCB revealed that these offshore gambling sites were accepting wagers on various gambling activities, including sports and casino-style games, without the necessary state licensing.

2. Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas reopens poker room
With less than two weeks until cards are in the air at the 56th annual World Series of Poker, Caesars Entertainment is gearing up for a summer full of poker play with the opening of a new poker room on the Las Vegas Strip.

Last Friday, the PH Poker Room officially opened and began hosting its first poker games.

The 24-hour Poker Room spans 4,800 square feet and includes 23 poker tables – 12 for cash games and 11 for tournament play.

See you this Friday at 9:30am for the grand opening ceremony of our new PH Poker Room ?????????? pic.twitter.com/LOd8UAu4SR
— Planet Hollywood (@PHVegas) May 7, 2025

1. Spanish gaming regulator imposes several fines
Spanish gambling regulator, the General Directorate for the Regulation of Gambling, levied fines totaling €77 million against 14 online gambling operators for operating without the necessary licenses.

The penalties imposed by the DGOJ range from €5 million to €10 million, with the majority of the operators facing fines at the lower end of this spectrum. One operator, however, received the maximum fine due to what the DGOJ classified as “more severe violations.”

A spokesperson for the DGOJ stated that these fines are part of a broader strategy to protect the integrity of Spain’s legal gambling market.