Casino City’s Friday Five: Super Bowl betting and casino openings edition

Leading this week’s gambling news was the Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl victory over the Kansas City Chiefs that attracted some impressive betting numbers across the U.S. Also this week, we have the reopening of a Mew Mexico casino, Michigan cracking down on illegal operators, Fontainebleau in Las Vegas ready to debut its pool season, and a controversial exit from the U.K. for a major online casino and sports betting operator.

Let’s begin with some fun in the sun:

5. Fontainebleau Las Vegas Oasis Pool to debut next month
Pool season begins on 7 March at Fontainebleau Las Vegas, with the reopening of Oasis Pool, the resort’s six-acre pool district featuring six pool experiences, four bars, poolside restaurant La Côte and the 2,300 square-foot gaming area.

Also returning this season are the daylife destination LIV Beach and Oasis Cinema Club.

Oasis Pool is anchored by the Grand Pool, featuring three bodies of water connected by Bleau Isle, the pool’s center bar.

The wait is over—pool season returns March 7! ?? Dive into six acres of luxury at Oasis Pool, savor bites at La Côte, catch a classic at Oasis Cinema Club, and shop summer styles at Aquamarine. https://t.co/VEqs2OEsWd #FontainebleauLasVegas #OasisPool #OasisCinemaClub pic.twitter.com/GTZ7ayK6JN
— Fontainebleau Las Vegas (@fblasvegas) February 12, 2025

4. MGCB issues nine cease-and-desist letters
The Michigan Gaming Control Board has taken swift action against nine online casinos, issuing cease-and-desist letters for violations of state gaming laws.

The following operators have been issued cease-and-desist orders:

- BetAnySports (BAS)
- Cool Cat Casino
- BetDSI - Diamond Sportsbook International, d/b/a BetDSI.eu (BetDSI)
- Solar Game LTD and Busan Trade Office (Go Go Gold)
- My Dreams Casino
- NonStop casino
- Palace of Chance
- Xbet Casino
- WagerWeb

“These unlicensed operators are not only in violation of Michigan’s laws but also pose significant risks to consumers by offering limited and often unreliable withdrawal options,” said MGCB Executive Director Henry Williams. “Our role is to protect Michigan residents by ensuring that all online gambling activities are carried out legally and responsibly. These operators have 14 days to cease their illegal activities or face further legal action.”

3. Apache Nugget Corporation reopens New Mexico Casino
After being closed for years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, today the Apache Nugget Corporation reopened its casino near Cuba, New Mexico.

The Apache Nugget casino near Cuba will feature:

- 80 of the newest slot machines
- A wall full of electronic table game stations, with everything from blackjack to video poker and craps to baccarat
- A fully functional race and sportsbook
- A Players Club
- Entertaining music and a lively vibe
- Several dining options

In addition, the travel center offers a full convenience store, gas station, trucker’s lounge and more.

2. Stake leaving Great Britain market
Consumers are being advised that Stake.uk.com will no longer be a licensed website from next month.

TGP Europe Limited, who operates the site as part of a white-label arrangement, have stated it will be shutting down the site.

The move follows the launch of a U.K. Gambling Commission investigation into a widely viewed video displaying the Stake-branded logo, which was distributed on a social media platform and featured an adult actress outside Nottingham Trent University.

TGP has previously been the subject of enforcement action and after a meeting with the Commission have stated they will immediately stop accepting new registrations to the Stake.uk.com platform and remove redirection links from the main Stake website. Final shutdown of the Great Britain site will take place by 11 March.

Consumers are being advised that 'stake. uk. com' will no longer be a licensed website from next month.

To read more about this, visit our website ?? https://t.co/zjmYVdBo9X pic.twitter.com/LxP2qJRUpD
— Gambling Commission (@GamRegGB) February 12, 2025

1. GeoComply: Super Bowl betting activity increases
GeoComply, an anti-fraud and geolocation compliance technology company, reported a 14% increase in active player accounts across its online sportsbook customers during Super Bowl weekend compared to Super Bowl weekend last year.

GeoComply recorded nearly 535,000 geolocation transactions from more than 60,400 active accounts in New Orleans. Over Super Bowl weekend, GeoComply observed the creation of more than 724,400 new online wagering accounts across its customers in regulated states. Just before half-time of the Super Bowl, and right after the Eagles scored their 3rd TD of the game, GeoComply recorded a peak of 14,300 geolocation transactions per second.

#SuperBowlLIX is in the books and the Eagles took flight! #FlyEaglesFly
We just released all our insights in our latest press release. Click below for details. https://t.co/oFTlPlFuqx pic.twitter.com/JBtyw93XNa
— GeoComply (@GeoComply) February 10, 2025

FanDuel is another example of the record numbers from last weekend’s game. Over 16.6 million Super Bowl bets were placed on FanDuel’s platform, a 19% increase from last year. Nearly three million active users placed a bet on the game and customer activity peaked at nearly 70K bets per minute.

With the Eagles in the Super Bowl, Pennsylvania had a major spike in betting activity. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board reported that preliminary figures show $101,548,073 was wagered in the Commonwealth on this past weekend’s Philadelphia Eagles/Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl through retail and online sportsbooks. That was a 20.4% increase over the previous high for wagers placed in Pennsylvania for a Super Bowl achieved in 2023 when the Eagles and Chiefs also faced off. Patrons overwhelmingly placed winning wagers resulting in negative revenue for the sports wagering operators of $6,532,147.