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Dan Ippolito
As Casino City's associate editor, Dan produces and edits all of our weekly newsletters, and he writes about the gaming industry for our websites and the GPWA Times Magazine. Dan graduated from Marist College in 2017 with a degree in Communications and a concentration in Sports. More articles by Dan Ippolito

Casino City’s Friday Five: March Madness, fines, and expansions edition

14 March 2025
By Dan Ippolito

Next week, March Madness will be in full swing and betting on the men’s basketball tournament is expected to increase in the U.S. In other news this week, we had a six-figure jackpot win out of Atlantic City, a new casino opening in New Hampshire, a massive fine from the U.K. Gambling Commission, and a pool expansion from an Oklahoma resort.

Let’s begin with a big win:

5. $400,000 win from Tropicana in Atlantic City
Luck was in the air at Tropicana Atlantic City last Thursday, when an East Brunswick, New Jersey resident turned a $5 wager into a massive $399,307 jackpot.

The guest, opting to remain anonymous, landed the All-In Progressive Jackpot on an Ultimate Texas Hold’em table with his side.

4. Lilac Club Casino in Rochester opens
Chicago-based architectural firm DMAC Architecture & Interiors presented its latest design for the Lilac Club Casino in Rochester, New Hampshire.

This 38,000-square-foot renovation project transforms the Lilac Mall into an entertainment center integrating gaming, dining, and events mixed with existing retail and celebrated its grand opening today.

The casino area will have more than 200 gaming machines alongside a variety of popular table games, including blackjack and roulette.

The New Hampshire property’s poker room will feature a 12-table setup.

3. Comanche Red River Hotel Casino to expand with pool addition
Comanche Red River Hotel Casino is making a splash with the addition of two new pools. Construction began earlier this week, and is expected to be completed this summer.

The new pool area will feature expansive poolside seating, private cabanas and a covered patio with additional countertop seating. Guests can also enjoy furnished seating with tables, a dog run area and a space for lawn games such as cornhole and pickleball.

Both of the pools will be approximately 60 feet long by 19 feet wide and pools will be open to guests of all ages.

2. AG Communications to pay £1.4 million for regulatory failures
Gambling operator AG Communications Limited is to pay £1,407,834 after a U.K. Gambling Commission investigation revealed social responsibility and anti-money laundering failures.

The operator, which trades as Aspire Global and runs 58 websites, will pay the money to socially responsible causes as part of a settlement with the Commission.

Some of the social responsibility failures included:

- Not having effective systems in place to prevent customers spending significant amounts of money in a short period of time before an assessment was made as to whether the customer was potentially at risk of gambling related harm. This raised concern that velocity of spend was not identified or acted upon quickly enough.
- Failing to conduct a safer gambling interaction despite one customer losing £6,000 in 48 hours. A telephone interaction was attempted but only when the daily loss limit of £5,000 in 24 hours was reached.

1. AGA: US March Madness betting to increase
The American Gaming Association estimates that Americans will legally wager $3.1 billion on the men’s and women’s college basketball tournaments this year, up from $2.7 billion in 2024.

This growth underscores the expanding legal sports betting market and the growing trust in legal wagering options.

Since the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn PASPA in 2018, legal sports betting has expanded to 38 states and Washington, D.C. According to the AGA’s 2024 American Attitudes Survey, 75% of Americans support legal sports wagering in their home state, and 90% view sports betting as an acceptable form of entertainment.

Casino City’s Friday Five: March Madness, fines, and expansions edition is republished from Online.CasinoCity.com.

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