Casino City’s Friday Five: Casino rebranding and more sports betting edition

Casinos and resorts are constantly changing. We have seen sportsbooks opening, restaurants being unveiled and even old names being brought back to the Las Vegas Strip. As of yesterday, a Las Vegas Strip resort rebranded to an older name many will remember. Before we get into that, we have a couple of jackpots to get us started. 5. $330,000 Pai Gow Poker jackpot in Las Vegas Boyd Gaming’s Downtown Las Vegas destinations have been dealing out jackpots as of late. On 22 August, a Hawaiian resident hit a seven-card royal flush playing Pai Gow poker at California Hotel & Casino and won nearly $330,000. This was the third major win for a Boyd Gaming Downtown Las Vegas property this summer. On 22 July, a Hawaiian resident took home $114,307 when she played the Dragon Wheel with Bonus Spin slot jackpot at Fremont Hotel & Casino. On 30 June, another Fremont hotel guest won $221,380 playing the Wheel of Fortune Triple Red Hot Sevens slots jackpot. 4. Free blackjack bets at Intertops Poker Until tomorrow, Intertops Poker is giving blackjack players 15 free bets at the online casino. Each free bet is $2, and players are allowed to place up to five bets at once. Players can keep whatever they win, up to $250. Once the active player receives the free 15 bets, they will have five days to play through the bonus. The four versions of blackjack available are regular blackjack, Face Up 21, Double Draw Blackjack and Perfect Pair Blackjack. 3. West Virginia sports betting This week, DraftKings debuted its sportsbook app for fans in West Virginia. The platform launching in The Mountain State follows when it made history by debuting in New Jersey as the first mobile, online and legal betting offering outside Nevada. The DraftKings Sportsbook app has already paid out over $720 million to players in New Jersey. Now fans in New Jersey and West Virginia can place bets on the app via iOS, Android or online.

??BREAKING NEWS??#DKSportsbook has OFFICIALLY arrived in West Virginia.

FULL DETAILS: https://t.co/NVS46zHFsy pic.twitter.com/5FZeF1QlTw

— DraftKings Sportsbook (@DKSportsbook) August 28, 2019

FanDuel has also left a footprint in West Virginia. On Monday, the company announced the launch of its sportsbook app in the state, in partnership with The Casino Club at The Greenbrier. The sportsbook app and fantasy app by FanDuel will allow players to use winnings from fantasy sports and the sportsbook interchangeably.

ICYMI, we are now LIVE in the great state of West Virginia, thanks in part to our friends at @The_Greenbrier ??

Details: https://t.co/4tOneIEeNM

Download our WV app ??
iOS: https://t.co/vojfepbJul
Android: https://t.co/g0SsAUzzn5 pic.twitter.com/KYJQqhb3Fn

— FanDuel Sportsbook (@FDSportsbook) August 27, 2019

2. Oregon sports betting kicks off On Tuesday morning, Oregon saw the first legal sports wager placed at Chinook Winds Casino Resort. Former Dallas Cowboys lineman Ed “Too Tall” Jones placed a bet on his former NFL team to win this year’s Super Bowl at 10-to-1 odds. The Sports Wagering Lounge will run daily form 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. while accepting bets on a variety of professional and collegiate sports.

Sports Wagering is officially open at Chinook Winds Casino Resort! @1EdTooTallJones placed the historic first bet in Oregon at Chinook Winds this morning. The former Dallas Cowboys Lineman bet on the Dallas Cowboys at 10-1 odds to win the Superbowl. https://t.co/lF1IkT766B pic.twitter.com/OiSL7LPBgL

— Chinook Winds Casino (@ChinookWinds) August 27, 2019

1. SAHARA Las Vegas makes official return to the Las Vegas Strip The Las Vegas Strip resort SLS Las Vegas Resort & Casino has officially renamed itself SAHARA Las Vegas. The Sahara Hotel and Casino was one of the first hotels on the Strip back in the 1950s until 2011. After a massive $415 million expansion, the property was introduced as SLS Las Vegas, which it was called until last Thursday, when it was rebranded as SAHARA Las Vegas. “We got a lot of feedback from a lot of people who told us they never stopped calling it Sahara,” Rachel Hunt, VP of marketing of the newly revealed SAHARA Las Vegas, told Casino City with a laugh. This announcement is coming fresh off the heels of the new high-limit lounge that SLS Las Vegas introduced last week as well. The Infinity lounge features baccarat, roulette, six-deck shoe and double deck blackjack, five bar-top poker machines and 40 premium gaming machines. Another gaming addition to come is the new poker room, located off the main casino floor, which is expected to open later next year, along with a refreshed hotel lobby with a state-of-the-art hotel registration system and a lounge.

This is just the beginning. #SaharaLasVegas #TheStripStartsHere pic.twitter.com/VTuwheZyei

— SAHARA Las Vegas (@SAHARALasVegas) June 29, 2019