News and Analysis

Federal Bill Proposes Slot Tax Threshold Reform

HB 6937 was introduced yesterday to the US Congress and passed the House Committee on Ways and Means. The Bill looks to amend a 1977 law, adjusting the tax threshold on slots jackpots from $1,200 - $5,000 to meet inflation.

There is broad consensus within the industry that these changes are far overdue and will implement the mechanisms needed to ensure that the tax rate can be reevaluated and adjusted for inflation in the future.

​​“Increasing the slot tax threshold to account for inflation is a long-overdue change that will alleviate unnecessary administrative burdens on casino operators, their customers, and an understaffed and overwhelmed IRS,” AGA president and chief executive Bill Miller said.

NY Considers iGaming Bill

This week a new iGaming bill (A09436) has been introduced to the New York State Assembly. The Bill looks to legalize interactive gaming and real money wagers on casino games through electronic means for players in NY via servers kept at licensed facilities.

The Bill proposes two skins per casino license, a one-off fee of $2m, and a 25% tax rate on gross gaming revenue (GGR), contributing to the state lottery and education funds. 

It’s barely two months since legal online sports betting went live in NY, with great success, in February GGR of $91.7m for the month and total stakes of $1.54bn.

Rush Street Acquires Run It Once Poker

Poker players, are you ready for one of Europe’s most successful brands to hit the USA? You should be because Rush Street Interactive has this week purchased Phil Galfond’s poker platform, Run It Once, with plans to bring it to the US market. 

Under the deal, the poker software will be integrated into the RSI iGaming platform. The sale took 18 months to finalize, but both parties are happy, with Galfond commenting that RSI shares his transparent and fair ethos to online gambling and will allow the poker network to grow and reach more players, scaling up to its potential.

DraftKings Falls Foul of the NJDGE

DraftKings has received a $150,000 fine from the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement after failing to block proxy betting on site. The specifics apply to a single case, with the Attorney General finding that DraftKings has not upheld their commitments. In addition to the fine, the operator will have to take corrective actions to prevent further cases of proxy betting on the platform.

Game of the Week

Enough with the news; it’s time to turn to games, and more specifically, what online casino slot you should be spinning this weekend. 

Age of Akkadia. Red Tiger Gaming: 96.5% RTP

Take a trip in history to Ancient Mesopotamia (2nd-3rd millennia BC) with Red Tiger Gaming’s brand new Age of Akkadia Slot. The game features stunning graphics, 5x5 grid reels, cluster pays (3-5+ symbols), wilds, a hidden bonus symbol, and mystery multipliers. 

Load up your bet and spin the reels, making wins and revealing the bonus symbol behind the ruin block symbols. Clear enough by making consecutive clusters to show the bonus logo, and you’ll get 10 free spins. During the bonus spins round, the hidden multiplier feature is active and can add up to 10x on each spin, staying active throughout the round, reaching a max value of a 30x payout multiplier for the whole game.

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It’s a medium-high variance slot with stakes from $0.10-40, so make sure you bet well to spin long enough to hit the bonus round. You should also be aware that the max payout is relatively low for a med-high variance slot at 2,048x your total stake. However, as a brand new Red Tiger release, it’s still worth discovering what this game is all about and revealing the hidden mysteries of the past!

Take it for a spin at Red Tiger Gaming US online casinos.