Casino City’s Friday Five: Prediction markets and the Supreme Court edition
Kalshi is taking its fight with New Jersey to the Supreme Court, the CFTC is targeting a former White House employee for prediction-market insider trading, and casino players are cashing in with jackpots topping $1 million. Meanwhile, an Ontario operator is facing a $100,000 penalty.
Here are five stories making headlines this week.
Let’s begin with some Pennsylvania winnings:
5. $700,000 baccarat win at Rivers Casino Philadelphia
A Rivers Casino Philadelphia player hit one of the largest jackpots in the casino’s history with a $5 bonus wager at the Royal 9 Baccarat progressive table game.
The guest from Philadelphia matched his personal King-Nine of spades hand with the bank’s hand to earn a $694,124 payout on 29 August.
4. Seminole Hard Rock Tampa awards $1.1 million slot jackpot
A St. Johns County man hit a jackpot totaling $1,104,476 on 29 August at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa.
The guest won the jackpot while playing a Dragon Link Panda Magic slot with a $150 bet on a $2 denomination.
3. AGCO issues $100,000 penalty to NorthStar Gaming
The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario has delivered a $100,000 penalty to NorthStar Gaming (Ontario) for alleged failures to comply with provincial anti-money laundering requirements.
Ontario's regulated gaming operators are required to have risk-based controls in place to identify, assess and respond to potential money laundering risks.
In this case, NorthStar Gaming's own anti-money laundering policies identified a player's disclosed occupation as high risk and required the player to be classified as high risk and undergo enhanced due diligence, including verification of source of funds, once the player's lifetime deposits reached $25,000.
The player opened an account with NorthStar in March 2024 and reached the $25,000 deposit threshold within the same month. Despite the player's disclosed occupation and the threshold being reached, NorthStar did not classify the player as high risk, initiate the required EDD assessment or verify the player's source of funds.
2. CFTC cracks down on prediction market insider trading
Last week, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced an order filing and settling charges against Gabriel Perez for misappropriating material, nonpublic information obtained through his federal government employment in order to trade event contracts on a prediction market platform for his personal benefit.
Under the order, the former White House teleprompt operator must return the profits he made from his unlawful trading totaling $107,539 and pay a civil monetary penalty of $65,000. Perez agreed to cease and desist from further violations of the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC regulations. Under the order, a three-year trading ban is imposed on Perez.
1. New Jersey takes Kalshi sports betting fight to Supreme Court
Earlier this week, Attorney General Jennifer Davenport filed a petition asking the Supreme Court to resolve a growing legal battle over whether Kalshi and other prediction markets must follow New Jersey sports betting regulations.
Litigation regarding these questions has erupted across at least 20 states, with dozens of active suits pending and the gambling laws of several states currently enjoined by the federal courts. This is the first certiorari petition filed with the U.S. Supreme Court regarding the legality of this business model.
“Companies like Kalshi claim to offer legal sports betting in all 50 States, but they refuse to follow the gambling laws of any state,” said Attorney General Davenport. “These companies have no right to offer their sports bets without following state law, which is why dozens of States across the ideological spectrum have opposed them. States have long adopted careful laws to regulate gambling, including to prevent compulsive gambling, gambling by minors, and insider trading on sports games. We’re calling on the Supreme Court to resolve this issue and recognize that Congress did not silently make the sports-betting industry immune from state law.”
Here are five stories making headlines this week.
Let’s begin with some Pennsylvania winnings:
5. $700,000 baccarat win at Rivers Casino Philadelphia
A Rivers Casino Philadelphia player hit one of the largest jackpots in the casino’s history with a $5 bonus wager at the Royal 9 Baccarat progressive table game.
The guest from Philadelphia matched his personal King-Nine of spades hand with the bank’s hand to earn a $694,124 payout on 29 August.
???? $694,124.33 JACKPOT ????
— Rivers Casino Philadelphia (@riverscasinophl) August 30, 2026
YES, YOU READ THAT RIGHT! Last night, one lucky player turned a visit to the tables into a life-changing $694,124.33 payout on our Royal 9 Baccarat Progressive! ????
Huge congratulations to our lucky winner!
Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER. pic.twitter.com/jtCQDmkFcC
4. Seminole Hard Rock Tampa awards $1.1 million slot jackpot
A St. Johns County man hit a jackpot totaling $1,104,476 on 29 August at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa.
The guest won the jackpot while playing a Dragon Link Panda Magic slot with a $150 bet on a $2 denomination.
ANOTHER MILLION-DOLLAR WINNER! ????
— Seminole Hard Rock Tampa (@SHRTampa) August 30, 2026
A lucky guest just hit for a massive $1,104,476.06 playing Dragon Link: Panda Magic! ????
That’s $1.1 MILLION reasons to celebrate. ??
Who’s next? ??#HardRockTampa pic.twitter.com/XITovetiFN
3. AGCO issues $100,000 penalty to NorthStar Gaming
The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario has delivered a $100,000 penalty to NorthStar Gaming (Ontario) for alleged failures to comply with provincial anti-money laundering requirements.
Ontario's regulated gaming operators are required to have risk-based controls in place to identify, assess and respond to potential money laundering risks.
In this case, NorthStar Gaming's own anti-money laundering policies identified a player's disclosed occupation as high risk and required the player to be classified as high risk and undergo enhanced due diligence, including verification of source of funds, once the player's lifetime deposits reached $25,000.
The player opened an account with NorthStar in March 2024 and reached the $25,000 deposit threshold within the same month. Despite the player's disclosed occupation and the threshold being reached, NorthStar did not classify the player as high risk, initiate the required EDD assessment or verify the player's source of funds.
2. CFTC cracks down on prediction market insider trading
Last week, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced an order filing and settling charges against Gabriel Perez for misappropriating material, nonpublic information obtained through his federal government employment in order to trade event contracts on a prediction market platform for his personal benefit.
Under the order, the former White House teleprompt operator must return the profits he made from his unlawful trading totaling $107,539 and pay a civil monetary penalty of $65,000. Perez agreed to cease and desist from further violations of the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC regulations. Under the order, a three-year trading ban is imposed on Perez.
1. New Jersey takes Kalshi sports betting fight to Supreme Court
Earlier this week, Attorney General Jennifer Davenport filed a petition asking the Supreme Court to resolve a growing legal battle over whether Kalshi and other prediction markets must follow New Jersey sports betting regulations.
Litigation regarding these questions has erupted across at least 20 states, with dozens of active suits pending and the gambling laws of several states currently enjoined by the federal courts. This is the first certiorari petition filed with the U.S. Supreme Court regarding the legality of this business model.
“Companies like Kalshi claim to offer legal sports betting in all 50 States, but they refuse to follow the gambling laws of any state,” said Attorney General Davenport. “These companies have no right to offer their sports bets without following state law, which is why dozens of States across the ideological spectrum have opposed them. States have long adopted careful laws to regulate gambling, including to prevent compulsive gambling, gambling by minors, and insider trading on sports games. We’re calling on the Supreme Court to resolve this issue and recognize that Congress did not silently make the sports-betting industry immune from state law.”
Companies like Kalshi claim to offer legal sports betting in every state — but refuse to follow the gambling laws of any state.
— Attorney General Jennifer Davenport (@NewJerseyOAG) September 2, 2026
We need the Supreme Court to resolve this issue and recognize that Congress did not silently make the sports-betting industry immune from state law. pic.twitter.com/h0nn32pCdR