The Bulletin Board
THE LEDE: NY considers new regulations to beef up RG and underage detection.
ROUNDUP: A look at the stories you may have missed.
NEWS: California tribes prepping for a 2028 sports betting push.
NEWS: CA cities propose sales tax hike to offset expected tax revenue loss.
AROUND the WATERCOOLER: Doug Polk’s side of the Lodge raid story.
STRAY THOUGHTS: Sponsorship opportunity.
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The Lede: NY Takes Aim at AI and Underage Gambling
New York is one of several states considering sweeping policy changes to its legal, regulated sports betting industry. As STTP noted in March, New York is one of five states with comprehensive bills covering some combination of responsible gambling, prop bets, advertising, limiting, and credit card usage:
“New York A7962 limits deposits to 5 per 24 hours and caps wagers to $5,000 per day. It also includes a credit card ban, advertising restrictions (time-based and during events), and promotional offer restrictions.”
New York might tackle some of these policy items through regulation, with Gov. Kathy Hochul and the New York State Gaming Commission working toward implementing new policies “aimed at preventing gambling addiction through additional measures, including preventing practices designed to keep customers from gambling beyond their means,” per a press release from Hochul’s office following the governor’s State of the State address.
There are two proposals that seek to, among other things, prohibit gambling operators (land-based or online) from using AI to send personalized promotions and require biometric data to complete the registration of an online account before a wager can be placed.
Also among the policies being considered is a mandatory operator interaction (with escalating interventions) if any of the following occur, note that the last two are completely ambiguous and could later include pretty much anything:
a patron's deposits exceed $10,000 over a 24-hour period
a patron's deposits exceed $100,000 over a 90-day period
a patron accesses the self-exclusion request page, but does not complete the self-exclusion process, three or more times in a 30-day period
a patron requests a second cool-off period within 45 days of the conclusion of the first cool-off period
a patron makes three consecutive increases to any responsible gaming limits offered by the mobile sports wagering licensee, without any decreases, within a seven-day period
a patron cancels withdrawal requests within the cancellation requirements set forth in subdivision (f) of this section, prior to the processing of the withdrawal, three times in a 10-day period
the total turnover of a patron's account exceeds $1,000,000 in a 90-day period
a patron's time spent logged into the account increases by 50 percent or more during the current week, compared to the immediately preceding two-week period
a patron ends two or more gambling or gaming sessions in the same week with a balance of less than $1 remaining in the account
a patron concludes two or more sessions in the same week with an increase in the total number of wagers from the previous session
a patron deposits funds from more than two sources within a 24-hour period
any additional triggers identified by the mobile sports wagering licensee to be potential indicators of problem gambling behavior
any additional triggers identified by the commission through a notice to mobile sports wagering licensees.
The full responsible gaming proposal can be found here.
A separate proposal takes aim at underage gambling, requiring all operators to follow the biometric data requirements noted above, as well as:
employ sufficient geolocation controls to identify and reject attempts to gain access to an application from a mobile device other than the mobile device customarily used by the customer or from locations from which the customer does not customarily gain access to the application, unless the customer provides biometric confirmation, and subject such controls to Commission review and approval.
identify and prevent account access in any circumstance under which account activity is occurring in two or more locations proximate in time, such that the account holder is unlikely to be in both locations.
enable an individual over the age of 18 to prevent, for a fixed period of time, such individual’s social security number from being used to establish an account.
report to the commission the identity of any user known or reasonably suspected to have provided access to its application to a person who is ineligible to wager on its platform by virtue of age.
exclude from all forms of legalized gambling in New York any person the Commission determines has facilitated access by a minor to gambling activity.
STTP Thoughts: Some of these recommendations make sense and are what I would term, good friction. That said, many are just friction for friction’s sake, and some are likely to have unintended negative consequences with zero benefits, like concluding “two or more sessions in the same week with an increase in the total number of wagers from the previous session.”
As Craig Carton, who had his own public battles with gambling addiction, put it on X, there are better ways to spend the state’s time and money if the goal is curbing problem gambling:
Roundup: So Much News; So Little Newsletter Space
DraftKings Racing expands to new states [Press Release]: “DraftKings unveiled its new horse racing product, DraftKings Racing, in Delaware, New Mexico and Rhode Island, expanding its horse racing footprint to 26 states nationwide. For the first time, customers in these states can experience horse racing with DraftKings and access pari-mutuel wagering on horse racing directly within the DraftKings Sportsbook app, delivering a seamless, integrated experience. The expansion comes as DraftKings transitions from DK Horse, a standalone horse racing app offered as a white label affiliate of Churchill Downs’ TwinSpires, to DraftKings Racing, an embedded product within the DraftKings Sportsbook app that includes features like shared wallet functionality and integrated promotions.”
Choctaw Casinos boost payment capabilities with Edge Markets [Press Release]: Choctaw Casinos & Resorts is expanding its cashless gaming capabilities through a partnership with EDGE Markets (a newsletter sponsor). Per the press release, “Guests can use the EDGE Boost Visa® debit card to withdraw cash directly at the cage or through a Kiosk on the casino floor, accessing up to $1 million per day… EDGE Boost is a debit-based banking platform designed specifically for betting and gaming, allowing players to access available funds directly rather than relying on credit card or cash advances. Funds are available 24/7, with high daily access limits designed to meet the needs of a wide range of players.” You can learn more about Edge Markets via my podcast episodes with CEO Seni Thomas (Episode #56 and Episode #62). I also reached out to Thomas for thoughts on crypto payments.
Robinhood is accounting for less and less of Kalshi’s trading volume [InGame]: “Robinhood’s share of volume on Kalshi has fallen from almost 60% in September to less than 23% in the first 27 days of March, in a sign that the stock trading giant is losing its status as a kingmaker in the prediction market world. In an update to the stock market on Monday afternoon, Robinhood revealed that its users had traded 2.6 billion contracts.” This is another article that is definitely worth a full read.
Indiana fines four sportsbooks for RG violations [Gambling Harm]: “The State of Indiana took regulatory actions against four online sports betting operators in March 2026 for responsible gambling-related violations.” The licensed operators were FanDuel ($6,000 fine), Fanatics ($3,000 fine), Bally Bet ($3,000 fine), and Hard Rock ($1,500). The fines are less than a slap on the wrist. Per Gambling Harm, the violations were caused by glitches that caused RG features to not function properly.
Quote of the Week: “Kalshi’s CEO said their long-term vision is to ‘financialize everything and create a tradeable asset out of any difference in opinion.’ That is not the principle grounded in our constitution nor the future we want for ourselves and our children. We’re suing Kalshi for illegal gambling and to protect Washingtonians from this dystopia.” ~ Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown
News: CA Tribes Prepping 2028 Sports Betting Ballot Push
California sports betting has been the longest-running soap opera in the industry, but is there a light at the end of the tunnel?
Possibly, as there was some significant news out of the 2026 Indian Gaming Association (IGA) Tradeshow on that front, with California Nations Indian Gaming Association (CNIGA) Chairman James Siva announcing the tribes are preparing to put retail and mobile sports betting referendum on the 2028 ballot.
As reported by CDC Gaming Reports, the public statements were spurred on by the presence of prediction markets, with Siva saying that while the tribes don’t know how much prediction markets are siphoning from California gamblers, “We believe it’s significant, but we don’t want to put it out there before we have the numbers… They aren’t adding any value to the market. They’re taking value out of the market.”
On the 2028 ballot measure: “We’re still walking the path and doing the work. We’ve been working behind closed doors, a lot of tribal meetings with ideas and concepts,” Siva said. “It has taken us a lot of time to get here, and now tribes are more comfortable talking about [it] in public.”
Siva also raised the possibility of a role reversal from 2022’s failed sports betting ballot initiatives, with prediction market operators, including DraftKings and FanDuel, potentially trying to thwart a tribal-exclusive effort, similar to their opposition to Wisconsin’s sports betting bill — that is still waiting on Gov. Tony Evers signature.
This marks a notable shift from the path California tribes and commercial sports betting operators had been charting following the 2022 ballot fight, when tribes pushed for retail-only sports betting at casinos and tracks, while DraftKings, FanDuel, and the Sports Betting Alliance members backed a separate effort that would bring statewide mobile betting to California.
Both measures were crushed at the polls, as both sides focused hundreds of millions of dollars not to pass their preferred measure, but to ensure the other side’s didn’t pass, which worked perfectly. Prop 26 lost by a 2-to-1 margin, Prop 27 by an even wider 82%–18% landslide.
After the dust settled, the commercial operators conceded that any realistic path forward needed the support of the tribes, and a fence-mending campaign began, and for a while, it looked promising.
And then everything went off the rails, as commercial operators were looking to move much faster than the tribes, which came to a head at last year’s IGA Tradeshow:
After Jill Dorson reported on a roundtable discussion that was billed as a step forward for tribal-commercial relations in California, the fit hit the shan. Tribes and the Sports Betting Alliance went into damage control, with a series of clarifications, press releases, and responses calling into question how much progress has been made in mending fences after a very contentious 2022 election cycle that pitted California tribes against commercial operators.
Here’s how things went down last week:
The Sports Betting Alliance (SBA) invited Veteran journalist Jill Dorson to the roundtable. The roundtable was on the record, and Dorson dutifully reported on what was said and the slides presented.
Following her coverage, the SBA issued a clarification, noting that the logos (of the four SBA members) “were simply a function of who the SBA represents. The slide was not meant to be an indication of the full market.”
Dorson and Casino Reports edited the article to reflect the SBA’s statement.
The California Nations Indian Gaming Association (CNIGA) and the Tribal Alliance of Sovereign Indian Nations (TASIN) issued a joint statement on Wednesday criticizing the SBA for inviting “a reporter into what was intended to be a private roundtable discussion among tribal leaders regarding this controversial issue.” The statement called it a breach of trust, which is already in very short supply following the 2022 ballot fight.
Casino Reports responded to the tribal statement, noting Dorson, “Verbally confirmed that the meeting was on the record and that she could report on it.”
After that, negotiations slowed, fingers were pointed, and the fences mended over two years were abandoned.
Siva’s announcement at the IGA Tradeshow signals a deliberate pivot back toward a tribal-exclusive model: retail sportsbooks at tribal casinos and racetracks, plus mobile betting that will almost certainly be routed through tribal platforms or tightly controlled partnerships under IGRA (similar to Wisconsin).
Whether DraftKings, FanDuel, and the rest of the Sports Betting Alliance will sit this one out or try to kill it (mirroring how they fought Wisconsin’s tribal bill) remains the big unknown.
News: Two CA Cities Consider Sales Tax Increase to Offset Cardroom Rule Changes
With California cardrooms about to lose some of their most popular offerings, two cities that rely on cardroom tax revenue, Commerce and Bell Gardens, have declared ‘Fiscal Emergencies,’ and will place a quarter-cent sales tax measures on the June ballot to offset the expected revenue declines — cardroom revenue accounts for 40% of Commerce’s and Bell Gardens’ collected tax revenue.
The significant changes made by Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office are:
Player-Dealer Position Restrictions: The regulations require the player-dealer position in cardroom games to be held by a person physically seated at the table. Third-Party Providers of Proposition Player Services (TPPPS) not in this role cannot settle wagers, disrupting the current model where TPPPS employees often act as proposition players to facilitate games.
Blackjack-Style Game Regulations: The new rules would only permit blackjack games without a “bust” feature or a 21-point target, differentiating them from traditional blackjack offered at tribal casinos or elsewhere. Basically, cardrooms would not be allowed to offer blackjack.
Per the press release:
“The Cities of Commerce and Bell Gardens today announced they have each declared fiscal emergencies and placed local sales tax measures on the June 2, 2026 ballot in response to significant projected revenue losses tied to Attorney General Rob Bonta’s recently approved cardroom regulations.”
“The regulations, which target long-standing cardroom operations, are expected to significantly reduce gaming activity by effectively eliminating blackjack-style games and restricting player-dealer games, key economic drivers for both cities.”
“City of Commerce has placed the Commerce Essential Services Protection Measure which is projected to generate approximately $4.5 million annually and the City of Bell Gardens has placed Measure BG which is projected to generate approximately $1.2 million annually.
“Without these measures, city officials warn of potential impacts including reduced public safety services, cuts to community programs, and delays in infrastructure investments.”
You can learn more about the City of Commerce’s sales tax measure here, and the City of Bell Gardens’ sales tax measure here.
The battle over player-banked games and third party proposition players dates back two decades, with tribes arguing these games and the use of TPPPs violate their exclusivity agreements with the state, while cardrooms argue they are abiding by the rules set forth in a 2007 rule change issued during the Christmas season by regulator Bob Lytle, who then went to work for a cardroom, which is Encyclopedia Britannica version of the twisted tale.
STTP has covered this story for several years if you’re interested in following the breadcrumb trail starting with this article from earlier this month.
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Around the Watercooler
Social media conversations, rumors, and gossip.
Professional poker player and co-owner of The Lodge Card Club in Austin, Texas, Doug Polk, posted a 20-plus-minute YouTube video explaining his side of the story, in the aftermath of a raid on March 10, 2026, by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission’s (TABC), the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office, and the IRS. The multi-agency raid was part of an ongoing investigation into suspected money laundering and illegal gambling.
Stray Thoughts
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