Giving Thanks

My thoughts on where US online gambling currently stands, and why advocates of legal, regulated gambling should be incredibly thankful.

Nov 23, 2023

VIEWS: Despite all the complaints, legal online gambling has come a long way in the US and is in a very good place.
ICYMI NEWS: Fanatics in Virginia; Bet365 in Louisiana; A new RG PSA; A look at responsible gambling spend per capita.
VIEWS: A trip down gambling’s memory lane.
AROUND the WATERCOOLER: How the mighty have fallen. Catena Media’s stock price dipped nearly 50% in four months.
STRAY THOUGHTS: What’s next, and a special thanks to my subscribers.

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Online Gambling Is in a Good Place

There is a lot of complaining in the gambling industry. A lot of complaining. A lot.

Whether it is a lack of funding, a dearth of online casino legalization, heavy licensing and tax burdens, monopolies, limited and banned bettors, a glut of advertising, a lack of responsible gambling policies, or countless other issues.

At these points,t I look back to September 2006 and April 2011 and realize how much we have to be thankful for in 2023.

When Congress passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act in late September 2006, I was a professional poker player. I was also a brand new father. The uncertainty around the situation caused me to leave the professional poker ranks and return to my 1990s profession in the health club industry.

When Black Friday decimated (did I use this correctly, Heather Fletcher?) US online poker, I had shifted to covering the industry. Black Friday led to another period of uncertainty for anyone even tangentially attached to the poker industry. Journalists like me had no idea where our next gig would come from, and poker players left the US en masse.

The gambling world had a similar scare in 2014 when Sheldon Adelson showed up and tried to put the toothpaste back in the tube following the legalization and launch of online gambling in Nevada, Delaware, and New Jersey. That scare only dissipated in 2018, following the repeal of PASPA.

The gambling world I’ve inhabited for the last 25ish years has seen a massive influx of people and attention in the previous five years, and many in that crowd don’t really understand how good they have it. So Missouri didn’t legalize sports betting in 2023, Florida sports betting was stuck in legal limbo for a couple of years, and online gambling is on a slow crawl across the country. Trust me, it could be a lot worse.

Be thankful progress is being made (no matter how slow) because there was a time not too long ago when online gambling wasn’t simply stagnant; it was losing ground.

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ICYMI: Fanatics and Bet365 Launch; A New RG PSA; Does the US Have a Gambling Problem?

And then there were ten. Bet365 is the tenth mobile sports betting operator to launch in Louisiana. The Bayou State marks Bet365’s seventh US state launch: Colorado, Iowa, Kentucky, New Jersey, Ohio, and Virginia.

Coverage for iGaming Business

Fanatics Sportsbook is officially live in its seventh state after completing its transition from the PointsBet app. Fanatics Sportsbook is also available in Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Ohio, Tennessee, and West Virginia.

Fanatics press release

The NHL, NBA, and MLB have unveiled a new ad spot for ResponsiblePlay.org. Jamie Salsburg asked about the ad on X, which resulted in a friendly discussion about RG advertising as a whole.

Play USA published an interesting chart of problem gambling spend per capita in online casino states. The ranking is not what any of us would expect, with Delaware topping the group at $1.39 and New Jersey bringing up the rear at $.34. But before you get too mad, the median in all gambling states was just $.23.

Play USA’s look at problem gambling in the US

Gambling History Is Colorful

Another thing I’m thankful for is recorded history. For far too long, most gambling stories were oral histories. Whether the gambling tales we hear are true, exaggerated, or fabricated, they offer an interesting glimpse into the history of gambling, particularly poker.

A great example is an ongoing five-part series from the World Poker Tour called The Tales of Billy Baxter:

There is also the recently published Stu Ungar article that appeared in Sporting News on the 25th anniversary of his passing.

And if you’re thirsting for more poker/gambling history, I have a few recommendations from my library (the picture below is three of my five gambling shelves):

Knights of the Green Cloth, by Robert K. DeArment
The Moneymaker Effect, by Eric Raskin
The Professor, the Banker, And The Suicide King, by Michael Craig
Ship It Holla Ballas!, by Jonathan Grotenstein and Storms Reback
Poker Tilt, by Dutch Boyd and Laurence Samuels
Titanic Thompson: The Man Who Bet On Everything, by Kevin Cook
One Of A Kind, by Nolan Dalla and Peter Alson
The Biggest Game in Town, by A. Alvarez

Around the Watercooler

Social media conversations, rumors, and gossip.

How the mighty have fallen. Following the purchase of Legal Sports Report, Online Poker Report, and the Play network in late 2016, Catena Media owned the US online gambling affiliate space for several years. Its grip began to slip following the overturn of PASPA and new competition entering the fray. By 2021, Better Collective had surpassed Catena.

As we head toward 2024, Catena is struggling, having sold off many assets to achieve its stated goal of streamlining operations.

The affiliate giant has been heavily criticized by John Mehaffey, co-founder of Vegas Advantage, and based on the replies to Mehaffey’s criticisms, he isn’t the only person with negative feelings towards Catena.

Author’s note: I was a Catena employee for several years following its acquisition of OPR and the Play sites. The company treated me very well, and there are a lot of terrific people working there.

Stray Thoughts

The newsletter is approaching its four-month anniversary, and I’m super excited about the next steps. I plan on launching the podcast after the holidays, and the strong growth, both in terms of subscribers and views is heartening.

There are some new sponsors I can reveal soon (still sponsorship openings, too!), and I would be remiss not to give a special thanks to you, my subscribers, especially if you are still reading this far down.

The support I receive (publicly and privately) makes this all worthwhile.