One of the gaming themes of 2017 is the fact that land-based casinos are now openly embracing online gaming – something they had vehemently opposed in previous years. That’s where we’ll start our weekly recap of the casino news as a well-known brand has expanded its online menu.
Golden Nugget Surpasses 400 Online Casino Games
The Golden Nugget in New Jersey recently became the first casino in the state to have 400 games in their online casino. They now have 401, to be exact. While they were the first, it didn’t take long for two of their main competitors to catch up as Resorts Casino and Mohegan Sun Casino have also now reached that number.
Caesars Casino isn’t far behind with 332 games in their arsenal while Play SugarHouse has 317 games despite only opening in September 2016. The rest of the casinos are well behind this group, but they should look to be a little more aggressive or risk losing their business to the frontrunners.
Slots seem to be the game that the casinos are adding the most and a major reason is that the games are quicker than table games. One pull of a virtual arm definitely doesn’t take as long as a hand of poker. Also, players love the variety of slots as some have different themes and paylines, and it keeps the game from getting boring. Golden Nugget loves the slots to the point that nearly 90% of their games are slots, which is similar to the likes of Resorts and Mohegan Sun.
Casinos Changing the Rules on Free Drinks
There’s always been an unwritten rule that if you’re hanging out in a Las Vegas casino, you can get a free drink from the waitress. However, times are a changing.
Caesars has started to use a system at nine of their casinos in Las Vegas – all casinos that have video-poker machines – where you have to play to get drinks. MGM has followed suit and are looking into doing this in their casinos in New Jersey and Mississippi as well. The casinos say they’re looking to reward those that spend more – not necessarily encourage more gambling – although, we can all read between the lines. The casinos also recommend that you ask the bartenders on the premises how much you have to spend in order to get complimentary drinks.
We saw this type of change happen in the sportsbooks years ago too. There was a time when anyone hanging around in the sportsbook could walk up to the window and ask for a free drink. Nowadays, you have to place a bet to get a drink ticket. The bottom line is the casinos want to cut down on the freeloaders and now they have clear rules in place to do that.
Wayne Rooney Binges at Manchester Casino
For our last piece of news, it is on to Manchester where Wayne Rooney is in the news again. It has been reported that Rooney recently lost over $645,000 in a two-hour spree at the 235 Casino in Manchester. He was committing one of the cardinal sins of gambling, which is chasing your losses.
That being said, when you’re making as much as Rooney is making at Manchester United, you can afford to play however you want. The Manchester United captain earns over $387,000 per week, so he’s not exactly strapped for cash.