The reels are always spinning in the gambling industry, and “The Double Down” is here every Friday to catch you up on all of the week’s biggest news. Sports Handle’s “Get a Grip” rounds up everything on the sports betting side, and US Bets provides the best of the rest: brick-and-mortar happenings, online casino developments, poker headlines, horse wagering, and more. So pull up a chair, crunch the numbers, and slide forward another stack of chips.

A Seminole moment for craps and roulette

Understandably, all the headlines this week about the Seminole Tribe announcing launch dates for assorted retail gambling verticals at its six casinos in Florida emphasized sports betting. That’s been the hot-button gaming topic in the state the last two years, and it remains so, whether this December launch includes the mobile side of things or not.

But there were a couple of other rather significant details tucked into that Wednesday morning press release about the “New Era in Florida Gaming” celebration. Along with retail sports betting, craps and roulette are launching at three properties on Dec. 7, one more on Dec. 8, and the final two on Dec. 11.

We know what you’re thinking if you’ve never been to a casino in Florida: Wait, they don’t have craps or roulette at these casinos?

Nope. A look at the Hard Rock Hollywood website’s list of table games, for example, show various forms of blackjack, against-the-house poker, mini-baccarat, and casino war, but nothing with a bouncing ball or tumbling dice.

Florida has taken a gradual approach to legalizing the various games. Initially, the Seminole casinos in the state only had slot machines. A new compact in 2010 allowed the tribe to spread those card games listed on the website. But as far as non-card-based games like craps and roulette went, electronic versions were permitted, but not games with a human dealer.

Eleven years later, the new compact the tribe and Gov. Ron DeSantis signed threw in craps and roulette (even if everyone was focused on the shiny object that was sports betting). So when Hard Rock International Chairman and Seminole Gaming CEO Jim Allen touted the “over 1,000 new jobs made possible by the Compact” in the press release, he was including the additional dealers that will be employed for the new table games at all six casinos.

Is it as controversial as sports betting, which has attracted the attention of lawyers and Supreme Courts and invoked debates about tribal servers? Certainly not. Is it easy news for the average person to gloss over because they just assumed craps and roulette were already fully legal in Florida? Indeed.

But it’s still a big deal in the casino world. There are about to be more options for gamblers — specifically, two of the most social of options — and there’s about to be a lot more money for the house.

This week on Gamble On …

Every Thursday, US Bets drops a new episode of the Gamble On podcast, and this week’s welcomed RunTheSims’ Justin Freeman to talk DFS, player prop betting, and common words nobody knows how to pronounce:

IS IT MAC JONES WEEK?!?@jeffedelstein and @JustinFreeman18 discuss it as a football play, as a game theory play, and as a simulation consideration on the latest episode of Gamble On (with bonus analysis of "lever" and "route" pronunciation): https://t.co/Ix1ShJBTek pic.twitter.com/lbtTq7ow8S

— Eric Raskin + (@EricRaskin) November 3, 2023

Still striking

Detroit Casino Strike Enters Third Week

A breed apart

Amid Death, Defections, And Detorri, The Breeders’ Cup Races On

Ivey’s league

World Poker Tour Promo Propels Two Players Into Heads-Up Matches With Phil Ivey

Swing and a Miss

Mississippi Legislators, Casino Stakeholders Wary Of ICasino

Lobbying grenades

How Much Skill Does It Take To Shape A Study Of ‘Skill Games’?

Same idea, more money

No Hard Feelings As Thoroughbred Idea Foundation Gives Way To NTA

Baby Buckeye bump

Ohio’s Casinos, Racinos Show Modest Year-Over-Year Revenue Bump In September

Call off the Vornado warning

A casino that never was will never be. Officially. No doubt.

According to a Crain’s New York Business article, the real estate firm Vornado Realty Trust is officially not going to put in a bid to win one of New York state’s three downstate casino licenses.

“It’s highly likely that we will not pursue the casino license,” Steven Roth, the firm’s CEO, said on an earnings call.

This comes as little surprise to watchers in this space, as Vornado never really put forth what a bid would look like.

There were rumors earlier in the year that Vornado would look to build a casino on the site of the demolished Hotel Pennsylvania, across from Madison Square Garden, but plans never really materialized — not like the plans for the 11 other expected bidders.

Official bids for the three licenses are widely expected to be due sometime before the end of the calendar year.

— Jeff Edelstein

Taylor Swift’s DJ ex to headline Pegasus World Cup

Prior to dating Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, Taylor Swift’s connection to the sports world was tenuous at best. But now that one of the pop star’s exes, DJ Calvin Harris, has been announced as the headlining musical act at January’s Pegasus World Cup, Swifties may want to bone up on what a mount means in horse racing vernacular.

Harris follows an impressive pedigree of performers at South Florida’s premier winter racing festival, where a statue of a giant winged horse will gaze down upon a field of elite thoroughbreds in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Championship Invitational on Jan. 27.

Previous Pegasus performers have included Snoop Dogg, Post Malone, Thomas Rhett, Nelly, Joe Jonas, Lil’ Kim, OneRepublic, and the inimitable Ja Rule.

— Mike Seely

More from around the gambling biz

BALLY’S PAID TRUMP ORG $60M: Eric Trump testifies he wasn’t aware of dad’s financial statements, but emails show some involvement [Associated Press]

THE EMPEROR’S NEW REVENUE: Caesars reports record adjusted earnings for third quarter [CDC Gaming Reports]

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT: Judge sentences Las Vegas casino thief who conned employees to help steal more than $1M [8NewsNow]

UPENDED IN ARKANSAS: Pope County casino license back up for grabs after ruling [THV11.com]

FRIDAY DEADLINE: Tens of thousands of Strip workers could go on strike next week [Las Vegas Review-Journal]

PAVED RHODE: Teamsters reach new contract benefitting workers at Bally’s Twin River Casino [WJAR 10]

CLASSED-UP CLOWNS: Circus Circus getting a makeover with a nod to its ‘glory days’ [Las Vegas Sun]

Image: Blundell Design