Casino City’s Friday Five: Rebranding and partnership edition

The Super Bowl is behind us now, which means we can move on from sports betting news, right? Wrong. Sports gambling is still very much alive in the news despite the biggest game of the year happening last weekend. This week, we have another state making progress on legalizing sports wagering, a massive jackpot, an online casino handing out $44,500, a new partnership and the rebranding of an iconic Las Vegas Strip casino.

Let’s start with the jackpot:

5. $923,165 jackpot at San Pablo Lytton Casino
Imagine waking up and knowing that your mortgage will no longer be hanging over your head. Well, for a lucky player in California, that is reality.

On Tuesday, a local resident received a $923,165 payout at San Pablo Lytton Casino in California when he played the White Hot Diamonds slot by Everi Holdings.

The player was actually preparing to leave just before winning the jackpot. That one extra go-around on the slot was the difference for him leaving with nearly $1 million more than he previously had.

That’s not a bad way to leave a casino.

Bay Area Resident Wins $923,165 Jackpot at San Pablo Lytton Casino Playing Everi's White Hot Diamonds. Popular Three-Reel Mechanical Game on Everi's Jackpot Lockdown WAP Link. https://t.co/hgaagwOW0A. #everipowers pic.twitter.com/2EwJQmDcPY
— Everi (@everi_inc) February 7, 2019

4. Rich Casino holds Race for Rome promotion
Online casino Rich Casino is hosting The Februa – Race for Rome throughout February and will award prizes to the top 20 finishers.

Players can join the Daily Championship Races by clicking the “Races” link on the Rich Casino menu bar and accumulating as many points as possible within the month of February. At the end of the month, the points will be tallied, and the players with the most points will win either cash or free chips from a total prize pool worth $44,500. The cash and chips will be distributed as follows:

First place will win a trophy and $25,000.
Second place will take home $5,000.
Third place will take home $2,500.
Fourth to 10th place each win $1,000.
11th to 20th place each win $500 in chips.

“Februa – Race for Rome promises to be a thrilling successor to last month’s Janus Race for Rome championship, which received very positive feedback from our players!” Gwen Adams, Rich Casino spokesperson, said.

3. Caesars Entertainment and Turner Sports announce agreement
Turner Sports has reached a first-of-its-kind agreement with Caesars Entertainment to develop gaming-themed content for sports fans around the world. Known for hosting decades of sporting events, Caesars Palace in Las Vegas will soon be home to a Bleacher Report-branded studio inside its legendary sportsbook.

The B/R studio is currently in development, with additional details to be unveiled in the coming months.

"The sports gaming industry is rapidly growing, and Turner is poised to be an industry leader in the development of gaming-themed content experiences," said Lenny Daniels, President of Turner Sports.

Caesars will also be prominently featured as a Bleacher Report gaming category partner, including integration across a wide array of content offerings and distribution platforms.

Today, @CaesarsEnt and @Turner Sports have entered into a groundbreaking agreement to develop gaming-themed content for sports fans around the world including a @BleacherReport-branded studio inside the legendary Caesars Palace sports book. https://t.co/GzZmCCg4zc pic.twitter.com/bbKB0SkBRB
— CaesarsEntertainment (@CaesarsEnt) February 7, 2019

2. Report: Sports betting could bring $100 million a year to Illinois
The Illinois Economic Policy Institute and the Project for Middle Class Renewal at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign performed a study unveiling that a program to legalize sports betting could create 2,500 jobs, increase tax revenue by $100 million annually, grow the Illinois economy by over $500 million and reduce black market gambling.

Last year, an Illinois Democratic State Senator and Republican House member introduced proposals that would have made Illinois the 11th U.S. state to legalize and regulate sports betting. During his campaign, newly elected Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker said that he would consider sports betting alongside other legislative proposals to help address the state’s budget challenges.

Under realistic assumptions, the authors of the study find that legalizing sports betting would greatly reduce illicit black-market activity in Illinois while generating significantly more revenue for the state than similar types of gambling, such as horse racing.

1. Stratosphere rebrands to The STRAT
On Sunday, 3 February, the Stratosphere, Casino, Hotel & Tower began its transition to The STRAT Hotel, Casino and SkyPod.

“The Stratosphere is a Las Vegas icon, so in acquiring the property we chose to preserve that quality while also reimagining the resort through a comprehensive remodel that spans from the tower to the main casino floor,” said Steve Arcana, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Golden Entertainment. “We have developed a new brand that speaks to the fun and excitement of this grand transformation and we are thrilled to announce The STRAT.”

The STRAT will continue its evolution of the property in 2019 with the introduction of BLVD & Main Taphouse, View Lounge, and the Race and Sports Book. It will be a fully remodeled sportsbook equipped with an immersive LED wraparound wall and the highest level of wagering technology, operated by William Hill. These are all planned to open this spring.

Out with the old. In with the… Just come find out for yourself. https://t.co/iloyJJ2Q4D pic.twitter.com/BmmMbqDb55
— The STRAT Las Vegas (@stratvegas) February 4, 2019