Lucky gamblers at several casinos in Las Vegas secured a number of jackpots over the last week. The announcement follows the Super Bowl LVIII weekend that attracted fans from across the nation who wanted to see the game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers. In light of the big game, Sin City posted record-breaking betting results.

Focusing on jackpots, one lucky visitor at Wildfire, the premium gaming and entertainment venue in Las Vegas, will never forget their most recent visit. On Tuesday, the casino confirmed that one of its lucky visitors was able to hit a five-figure jackpot after wagering less than $2. Wildfire confirmed via its social media profile on X, formerly Twitter, that the lucky winner hit a $10,265.58 jackpot while playing Dancing Drums Prosperity. What’s exciting is that the jackpot was hit with a tiny $1.88 bet.

A Winning Jackpot Streak at Boulder Station

Before that, several visitors secured hefty jackpots when visiting Boulder Station, the luxury casino located minutes off the Las Vegas Strip. The winning streak started with two lucky visitors who hit the jackpot while playing Aristocrat Gaming’s Dragon Link. One of the visitors, identified as Christina S. hit a jackpot on Sunday, while the other lucky gambler, named Chandler, secured a jackpot from Dragon Link on Monday. While Boulder Station released pictures of the two lucky winners, it didn’t confirm the amount of the jackpot they won.

Again, on Monday, the premium casino location confirmed that another five-figure jackpot was won. One fortunate visitor playing Fu Dai Lian Boost hit a jackpot after a $44 bet. As a result, the lucky Boulder Station casino visitor took home the hefty jackpot prize of $11,874.

Separately, another jackpot dropped at Boulder Station recently. A person who placed a $25.00 bet on poker hit a sweet $8,534 jackpot, the premium Las Vegas casino revealed.

Elsewhere, in Maryland, a $5 million lottery jackpot winner confirmed he plans to keep his current job. The lucky lottery player won the grand prize after purchasing tickets for Maryland Lottery’s 50 Years! instant ticket lottery game.

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Aristocrat, the leading global games leader that operates in more than 90 countries across the globe, announced that one lucky traveler at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada, hit a million-dollar jackpot on Friday night. The company confirmed that the player, who enjoyed Wild Wild Buffalo hit the game’s jackpot, a staggering $1,031,199.36.

Wild Wild Buffalo is one of the fan-favorite games of Aristocrat. The slot game successfully combines the company’s iconic Buffalo brand together with the Wild Wild Cash-on-Reel pays. Moreover, players of Wild Wild Buffalo can expect thrilling experiences thanks to the game’s free spins, progressive multipliers and progressive awards.

Tiny Bets Award Five-Digit Jackpots

Elsewhere around Las Vegas, more lucky gamblers enjoyed a hefty payday. Namely, one visitor of Durango Casino and Resort in Sin City placed a small wager that resulted in a five-digit prize. While playing IGT’s Cats Wild Serengeti on Friday, the visitor placed a $0.80 wager.

Little did they know that this tiny bet would turn into a staggering $10,000 jackpot. Durango Casino and Resort did not disclose further details regarding the lucky visitor. Still, it is certain that they will always remember the recent visit that granted them a $10,000 prize with a bet of less than $1.

But that wasn’t the only jackpot that was won recently with a tiny wager. One visitor of Aliante Casino Hotel Spa located in North Las Vegas, was able to hit another mouth-watering jackpot with a dollar bet. Earlier this month, while playing Imperial Wealth Triple Sparkle, one visitor of the casino hit the $10,000 jackpot after placing a bet of only $1.80.

More recently, another visitor of Aliante Casino also pocketed a five-digit prize by playing video bingo. On January 9, 2024, the casino confirmed that one lucky guest won $10,000 from the game.

On Christmas Day, one Betway player was able to pocket a staggering progressive jackpot. The fortunate player was enjoying Book of Mega Moolah when unexpectedly he hit the game’s progressive jackpot, a staggering €13.5 million ($14.7 million).

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A businessman from Kent was accused of running illegal gambling operations in Florida. The man, who had allegedly operated an illegal slot machine business, has now pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The defendant, Timothy Surgen, is a 57-year-old man who, according to multiple charges, leveraged his company, Surgen Enterprises, to operate slot machines. His alleged violations have been outlined in over a hundred charges, claiming that he offered slots at the Black Beards Super Game Room, Games N More and Treasure Island Arcade properties.

For reference, Florida’s laws prohibit slot machines that pay out cash.

In addition to possessing slot machines and running illegal gambling operations, Surgen faces charges for money laundering.

Plaintiffs Allege Surgen Operated Illegal Gambling and Laundered Money

Surgen Enterprises was founded in Ohio in 2012. The company launched in Florida in 2018, where its owner filed it as a foreign limited liability company based of out Ohio.

In 2019, Surgen applied for a new business application, allowing him to establish Treasure Island Arcade, one of the venues where he offered illegal slots. The venue was officially listed as an arcade business offering 50 machines and overseen by three employees.

Games N More, one of the other venues in question, was launched in 2022 and was listed as a 20-machine arcade with four employees. Black Beards Super Game Room was founded that same year and was listed as an arcade with 25 machines and four employees. These two properties were notably founded by a former Surgen employee.

Between November 2022 and September 2023, investigators probed into Games N More and Treasure Island Arcade. Undercover agents spotted armed guards and learned that the venues offered multiple cash slots. To confirm that the machines were illegal, the agents tried to exchange cashout tickets for money and gift cards – a practice forbidden in Florida.

Surgen, who has now pleaded not guilty to running illegal gambling operations, is believed to have generated more than $304,000 of illegal money.

Surgen faces further charges.

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Tim Miller, the executive director of the United Kingdom’s Gambling Commission (UKGC), spoke during the recent G2E conference in Las Vegas, saying that his team is close to sealing several Memoranda of Understanding with a number of US regulators.

In line with Miller’s call for unity, the move would improve the relationship between the British regulator and its US counterparts, setting them up for further collaboration.

In his speech, Miller said that operators should work together to prevent unruly operators from causing harm. He explained that operators that abide by the rules in one market, may not be as cooperative in other markets, which is why regulators should share information and work together.

Such joint action would allow regulators to cover a glaring blind spot and create a healthier international gambling market. Miller noted that no regulator is an island and no single regulator can police the industry on its own.

The MOUs May Signify a New Age of Regulation

In his speech, Miller noted that many of Europe and the United Kingdom’s top operators have been increasingly interested in exploring the opportunities offered by the lucrative North American markets. The Memoranda of Understanding with US regulators will help the UKGC establish a very important relationship with the governing bodies of these key jurisdictions.

By working together and committing to collaboration, we can make sure we each achieve the safer, fairer and crime-free gambling that we want for our jurisdictions and for our consumers.

Tim Miller, executive director, UKGC

Miller also explained that the joint work with US regulators would put more pressure on third parties that facilitate black market gambling.

The Memoranda of Understanding with US regulators may very well signify a new age of gambling regulation, in line with the ongoing reforms in the United Kingdom. The UK is still consulting the white paper proposals that seek to revolutionize the gambling sector and modernize its rules.

Miller’s call is also reflected in the efforts of Australia’s ACMA to join forces with the Curaçao government and weed out unlicensed Curaçao-based operators.

However, not all regulators might be equally cooperative. Earlier this year, Malta passed Bill 55, restricting regulators’ ability to impose judgment on Malta-licensed companies. Needless to say, the move was extensively scrutinized by multiple European regulators.

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For nearly a decade now, judge after judge has ruled that Pennsylvania skill games known by the Pace-O-Matic name are legal in the commonwealth. yet prosecutors and agents of the Pennsylvania Bureau of Liquor Control and Enforcement (BLCE) seem hell-bent on finding a jurist who will take their side in the matter of “Chance v. Skill” and stand behind the authorities when they raid a local gathering place and seize the machines and any cash or collateral equipment associated with them.

So far, Pace-O-Matic’s Skill Games have been found to be legal in the state by rulings in the following courts: Beaver, Dauphin, Monroe, and York counties. Clearfield County and Delaware County reviewed the law itself and case law as created by those decisions and returned seized games without the need to go to trial and determine the facts for themselves.

Games Deemed Legal Since 2014

The Beaver County Court of Common Pleas ruling that Pace-O-Matic’s Pennsylvania Skill games are legal and games of predominant skill have stood since 2014 (ruling .PDF)

Once again a judge has ruled in favor of game providers. This time in Monroe County where the DA’s office and the BLCE carried out a raid on a small business there in 2022 and held the devices in a secure location until the gambit played out in court – again. Judge Mark said in his recent ruling that the gaming “devices are games of skill and not games of chance.”

In the same county earlier this year, prosecutors caught an earful from Monroe County Common Pleas Judge Jennifer Harlacher Sibum who scolded them for not only prosecuting non-criminal behavior but for misconduct in the investigation and prosecutions themselves. In fact, she used the withholding of crucial evidence and misrepresentation of evidence by the prosecution side of the equation as reason to suppress the actual evidence from a court hearing as the case was dismissed.

“The court finds that the Commonwealth improperly withheld and misrepresented material evidence relative to the issuance of the search warrant in this matter and that such conduct warrants the suppression of the seized property,” wrote Judge Sibum in her order dismissing the charges and ordering the return of the machines, cash, and other instruments to the rightful owners.

According to a report on G3 Newswire, Wednesday judges in York County and Dauphin County have ruled against prosecutors and the BLCE in other cases this year as well.

Pace-O-Matic got its machines, cash, and related equipment back from prosecutors in York County after it was improperly seized by the Bureau earlier in 2023. In Dauphin County, the “L” was chalked up to prosecutors there, and the “W” for POM.

In that case, Dauphin County Common Pleas Judge Andrew H. Dowling wrote, “Initially, it is this Court’s belief that the Commonwealth’s investigation shows case bias. The Commonwealth is seeking to make all machines like the POM Machines into illegal gambling devices, and their whole approach and intent is to shut down games regardless of the actual gameplay… Thus, the Commonwealth as a whole is biased against the games, and their approach lacks case credibility.”

Pace-O-Matic lawyer, Matthew Haverstick of Kleinbard, LLC, stated: “Pace-O-Matic’s Pennsylvania Skill games are legal. The Commonwealth has wrongfully seized its equipment for years with no credible evidence that the games are illegal. Judges are now carefully looking at the evidence and ruling in our favor.”

Mike Barley, Chief Public Affairs Officer for the company added, “Again, another Pennsylvania court has found that Pennsylvania Skill games, powered by Pace-O-Matic, are legal games of predominant skill. With the legality of our games upheld repeatedly, we are eager to work with the Legislature to pass legislation that will fairly regulate and tax the skill game industry. In fact, Pace-O-Matic stands out among our competitors as the active driving force seeking additional regulation and taxation.”

Pennsylvania Skill games are manufactured in the commonwealth and 90% of the profit generated from them reportedly stays inside the state. Earlier reports claim to show that “real casino” businesses are not cannibalized by play on the devices as those seeking to spend a few dollars for entertainment with potential prizes on the games visit a neighborhood mom-and-pop grocer or other stores, another nearby small business, a favorite fraternal or social club, the local volunteer fire company or a veterans’ organization without the need to plan travel, overnight accommodations, or even to plan any form of major budget expenditures.

The Same or Similar Games have been Banned by Law in Kentucky Since March 2023

The games do not enjoy the same standing in Kentucky where they were recently codified into law as unregulated and illegal.

Pennsylvania casino and lottery revenues have continued to grow year in and year out as the skill games find their way into more and more locations giving at least anecdotal evidence to advocate’s claims that it is a totally different clientele than would be found looking for flashing lights, bells and whistles, and big jackpots.

Sen. Gene Yaw who serves as Vice Chair on the Judiciary Committee in Harrisburg has introduced legislation that would tax the machines and reportedly provide some $300m a year in revenue to the commonwealth while regulating the games as well.

As part of most press releases from the company, POM often mentions that it “employs a team of former state police officers to enforce all terms of contracts and codes of conduct. These contracted terms limit the number of machines, where they are placed in a location and have protections in place to prevent anyone underage from playing the devices.”

Source:Judge rules that Pennsylvania Skill games are ‘devices of skill’, G3Newswire, June 7, 2023

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Casino jackpots always bring excitement, although they are quite hard to hit. The pure thought of securing a big win makes gamblers bet even more but only a lucky few get to take home a hefty jackpot payout.

One visitor of the Flamingo Las Vegas was incredibly lucky, which granted him a seven-digit prize. The player, who wasn’t identified, was playing Pai Gow poker. Little did they know that this game would be life-changing.

On Tuesday this week, the lucky player hit a $1,333,121 jackpot while playing Pai Gow poker, the Flamingo Las Vegas confirmed. The premium casino and entertainment destination congratulated the winner for the big prize and acknowledged that it helped make another person a millionaire.