Casino City’s Friday Five: Prediction market battle edition

Prediction markets are gaining traction, but it raises a fair question: are some participants acting on inside knowledge before bets are placed? In addition this week, we have a near $2 million win from Connecticut, a grand opening in Iowa, a new baccarat room in Oklahoma, and Kalshi charged in Arizona.

Let’s start this week with a life-changing win:

5. $1.7 million slot jackpot hits at Mohegan Sun
A visitor from New York turned a 10 March trip to Mohegan Sun into an incredible moment, hitting the major jackpot on a Whitney Houston slot machine in Casino of the Sky for $1,770,327.

Can you imagine taking a $5 spin and turning it into $1,770,327.01? One lucky guest did just that on one of our Whitney Houston slot machines — wouldn't a jackpot like that make you 'wanna dance with somebody?' ?????? pic.twitter.com/jHiTq8FsvY
— Mohegan Sun ?? (@MoheganSun) March 13, 2026

4. WinStar World Casino and Resort opens new Baccarat Salon
WinStar World Casino and Resort in Oklahoma is inviting guests to experience its new Baccarat Salon.

Located inside WinStar’s Beijing Gaming Plaza, the 1,350-square-foot space features an expanded selection of eight new baccarat tables, including five Mini Baccarat tables offering the Dragon Bonus side bet and three Dai Baccarat tables.

3. Arizona charged Kalshi with illegal gambling operations
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes filed criminal charges against the companies behind the Kalshi prediction markets platform for operating an illegal gambling business in Arizona without a license as well as for election wagering.

The 20-count criminal information alleges that Kalshi accepted bets from Arizona residents on a wide range of events in violation of Arizona law. These events included professional and college sporting contests, proposition bets on individual player performance, and whether the SAVE Act would become law. Among the charges are four counts of election wagering, including bets on the 2028 presidential race, the 2026 Arizona gubernatorial race, the 2026 Arizona Republican gubernatorial primary, and the 2026 Arizona Secretary of State race.

Arizona law prohibits operating an unlicensed wagering business, and separately bans betting on elections outright.

We're seeing an "insane situation" in which prediction markets like Kalshi let people bet on anything from elections to wars, @AZAGMayes says.

"Those things are just illegal in the state of Arizona," she tells @balin_om.

More details: https://t.co/TMPSoLDHFF pic.twitter.com/cd5uIVHaoS
— KTAR News 92.3 (@KTAR923) March 17, 2026

2. Bally’s Marquette celebrates official grand opening
Last Friday, Bally’s Marquette opened the doors to its new $26.2 million property. The event marked the property’s transition from its longtime riverboat home on the Mississippi River to a 31,280-square-foot permanent, modern facility on land.

The full-service land-based destination introduces a two-level gaming floor featuring more than 400 slot machines and electronic table games, along with live blackjack, Ultimate Texas Hold’em and a sportsbook featuring betting windows and kiosks.

1. Bill introduced to ban certain prediction markets
On Tuesday, U.S. Senator Chris Murphy and U.S. Representative Greg Casar unveiled the BETS OFF Act, a legislation to ban wagering on government actions, terrorism, war, assassination, and events where an individual knows or controls the outcome.

Because many of these “event contracts” are traded on offshore prediction markets, the bill also amends existing laws against illegal gambling to enforce these rules by shutting down payment systems to illegal online platforms and imposing criminal penalties for people in the U.S. who promote, manage, own, or supervise these businesses domestically.

Recent suspicious activity on these prediction markets has raised serious questions about whether Trump administration insiders are using government secrets to make significant personal profit by placing anonymous bets on these platforms. Hours before both the initial strikes on Iran and the extraction of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, several prediction market users placed huge bets predicting the strikes and cashed out for hundreds of thousands of dollars.