Atlantic City: Caesars' Sale Would Hand Fertitta Four of Its Nine Casinos

Today's Big Question

Caesars Entertainment shareholders voted 65.4% to approve a $17.6 billion sale to Tilman Fertitta, who already owns Atlantic City's Golden Nugget. The deal pays $31 a share in cash and has Fertitta assuming $11.9 billion of Caesars' debt, and it still needs the FTC and more than a dozen state gaming regulators to sign off before it can close.

What happened

Caesars Entertainment shareholders voted on September 24 to approve selling the company to Fertitta Entertainment for $31 a share in cash, a deal that totals roughly $17.6 billion once Fertitta's assumption of $11.9 billion in existing Caesars debt is added in. The vote passed with 65.4 percent in favor, the kind of margin a room reaches when the alternative is staying employed by the company that just got bought.

Fertitta already owns the Golden Nugget in Atlantic City. If the sale closes, he adds Caesars Atlantic City, Harrah's Resort and the Tropicana, putting one owner in charge of four of the boardwalk's nine casinos.

The deal still needs sign-off from the FTC, which sent Caesars a second request for information on September 14, and from gaming regulators in more than a dozen states. The FTC made Caesars sell three casinos to approve its own 2020 merger with Eldorado, so it already has a template for how this could go. Closing is expected sometime in mid-2027.

Why it matters

A federal antitrust review already made Caesars sell casinos once, in the 2020 Eldorado merger. Now it gets to decide whether one man can own four of Atlantic City's nine, a question New Jersey's Casino Control Act addresses with a ban on "undue economic concentration" and no actual number attached to it. In the meantime, Golden Nugget customers still park for free while Caesars customers pay some of the boardwalk's highest rates, a gap Fertitta will either close or start billing for.

In the Spotlight

Sam Soverel Won a Record 16th PokerGO Tour Title, Three Clear of Alex Foxen

What happened

Sam Soverel won the kickoff event of the PGT PLO Series on PokerGO Tour on September 25, a $5,000 buy-in that drew 91 entries and paid him $122,850. It is Soverel's 16th PokerGO Tour title, a record he now holds three clear of Alex Foxen's 13.

He closed it out when his pocket aces held against Jonas Kronwitter's ace-eight-six-three, with the board running ten, seven, three, five and seven. Kronwitter took $79,625 for second, and John Dapkus $56,875 for third.

Why it matters

Sixteen titles in a format where fields top out around ninety people is not volume, it is a monopoly on a specific room. The win added 432 Player of the Year points, widening a lead that was already the largest number on the board.

The Explainer

50 Cent's Casino Dice Game Has One Rule Left From the Corner

What happened

Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson is bringing a licensed version of Cee-lo, the three-dice street game, to a casino floor. Jackson partnered with casino equipment supplier TCSJOHNHUXLEY to debut the game, rebranded "Headcrack," at the Global Gaming Expo, running September 28 through October 1 at the Venetian in Las Vegas.

The rules survive the move indoors: three dice, a roll of 4-5-6 wins on the spot, a roll of 1-2-3 loses on the spot, and pairs and trips score by the numbers. What changes is a house banker, a pay table and side bets, the parts of a casino game a street corner never needed.

"For a hundred years this game lived on the corner," Jackson told TMZ. "Now it's got a dealer, a pay table, and a seat at the table in a real casino. Same dice, new floor."

Why it matters

G2E is where casino operators shop for next year's pit games, and a dice game with a hundred years of sidewalk reputation just got a pay table and a dealer's apron to go with it.

Follow the Money

WSOP Circuit Opens First-Ever Malta Stop as Iowa Hands Out Two More Rings

What happened

The WSOP Circuit opened its first-ever stop in Malta on September 25 at Casino Malta in St. Julian's, with twelve international rings on the schedule including a euro-denominated Main Event. Back in Iowa, Horseshoe Council Bluffs kept handing out its own. Daniel Lowery won the $400 Big O for $8,607 over 96 entries on September 22. Ari Engel took the $400 No-Limit Hold'em ring for $6,613 over 68 entries the next day.

The Circuit

Two More WPT Australia Titles Went Out After the Prime Trophy Left

What happened

WPT Australia's side events kept paying out after Cooper Feltham's Prime Championship win closed the festival's marquee event. Salvatore Fazzino won the AUD 460 Double Trouble for AUD 9,638 over 86 entries, his second title of the festival. Shou-chi Peng won the AUD 1,350 Mystery Bounty for AUD 71,721, an AUD 58,521 base prize plus AUD 13,200 in bounties, over 355 entries across two starting flights.

Hardware Won

Two rings in Iowa and a record-setting PLO title on the PokerGO Tour, plus a first-ever WSOP Circuit stop in Malta that opened without a ring handed out yet.

Sam SoverelPGT PLO Series $5,000 kickoff event$122,850
Daniel LoweryWSOP Circuit Council Bluffs Event #7$8,607
Ari EngelWSOP Circuit Council Bluffs Event #9$6,613

Out

The PGT PLO Series kickoff event's final two finishers.

Jonas KronwitterPGT PLO Series $5,000 kickoff event2nd · $79,625
John DapkusPGT PLO Series $5,000 kickoff event3rd · $56,875

On the Watchlist

WSOP Circuit Council Bluffs Main EventEvent #14, $1,700 buy-in, two starting flights Sept. 25-26, the marquee event of an 18-event schedule running through Sept. 27.
WSOP Circuit Thunder ValleyEvent #3, the $400 Opener with a $250K guarantee, four flights running through Sept. 26 at Thunder Valley Casino Resort in Lincoln, California.
WSOP Circuit Casino MaltaThe Circuit's first-ever Mediterranean stop, twelve rings at Casino Malta in St. Julian's.

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In The Air Right Now

Stops with cards in the air on this date.

WSOPWSOP Circuit - Council BluffsIA, United States RGPS2026 RGPS Golden Expedition MarylandMGM National Harbor Hotel & Casino WPTWPT Australia80 Pyrmont Street, Pyrmont NSW, Australia WSOPWSOP Circuit - Thunder ValleyCA, United States WSOPWSOP Circuit - Casino MaltaSt. Julian’s, Malta

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