Maverick Gaming Closes Eight More Washington Casinos. It Is in Chapter 11.

Today's Big Question

Maverick Gaming, co-founded by high-stakes poker player Eric Persson, said it will close eight more Washington casinos on November 30. Two others close November 1. The company filed for Chapter 11 in July and will keep four properties. About 850 jobs go in the November 30 round.

What happened

Maverick Gaming will close eight more Washington casinos on November 30: American Casino in Everett, Chip's, Macau and Palace Casino in Lakewood, All Star Casino in Silverdale, Casino Caribbean in Yakima, Crazy Moose Casino in Pasco and Coyote Bobs Casino in Kennewick. Roughly 850 jobs go with them. Two other Maverick casinos were already set to close on November 1, which cost 238 jobs, so the total across both rounds is over 1,000.

Maverick is co-founded by high-stakes poker player Eric Persson, who is its CEO. It filed for Chapter 11 in July 2026 and lists between $100 million and $500 million in both assets and liabilities. After the closures it will keep four properties.

The company's stated reasons are an unfavorable regulatory environment compared with tribal casinos, a petition for centralized surveillance that the Washington Gaming Commission rejected, a weak local economy with technology sector layoffs, and high operating costs, particularly rent.

Why it matters

More than a thousand casino employees lose their jobs across the two rounds, and the closures come after a Chapter 11 filing, not before it.

The reasoning is worth reading closely. The stated reasons are the regulator, the tribal casinos, the local economy and the rent. The company's own decisions are not on the list. Poker readers know this form: it is the post-mortem in which the board ran perfectly and the river was the problem.

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