Visualizing Growth

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Welcome back to the Bandit Betting Newsletter, where we deliver the top stories in sports and gambling directly to your inbox, every Sunday.

In today's email:

• WSOP 2024: main event begins.

• Illegal gambling bust: nets 4 arrests, 77 machines in San Juan.

• Visualizing growth: the meteoric rise of sports betting in the USA.

Let's gamble...

WSOP 2024

The record-breaking temperatures in Las Vegas isn’t slowing down the poker action inside the Paris and Horseshoe ballrooms

The 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP) continues with the Main Event No-Limit Hold'em World Championship starting on July 4 with Day 1B, followed by 1C and 1D on Friday and Saturday.

The event includes surprise celebrity cameos, poker legends, and a special entrance by 17-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth on July 5.

The Final Table begins on July 16. Last year's event saw a record 10,043 entries and a $93.34 million prize pool, with the winner, Daniel Weinman, taking home $12.1 million.

The WSOP Main Event features two-hour levels and long days of poker, with players reaching the money and a minimum $15,000 payout at the end of Day 3 on July 8.

Early fireworks included players busting out on their first hands on both Day 1A and 1B.

Follow live on X @wsop.

MORE ILLEGAL GAMBLING ROOMS

Four employees of a San Juan game room were arrested.

77 gambling machines were seized during a raid by the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday evening.

Frida Sanchez, Fatima Hernandez, Jordi Alejandro Gonzalez, and Fernando Arteaga were arrested on charges including keeping a gambling place, possession of gambling devices, gambling promotion, and engaging in organized criminal activity.

Gonzalez also faced charges of evading arrest and resisting arrest.

The raid at Quinta Ximena on South Stewart Road also resulted in the recovery of an unknown amount of cash.

Bonds were set at $6,000 for Gonzalez and $4,000 for Sanchez, Hernandez, and Arteaga.

VISUALIZING GROWTH

Only up from here.

The U.S. sports betting industry has seen exponential growth, significantly contributing to the global sports betting market.

This growth is depicted in a graphic showing annual gross gaming revenue (GGR) from sports betting in the U.S., based on data from the American Gaming Association.

GGR is the total amount wagered minus winnings. Since the legalization of sports betting in May 2018, after the Supreme Court overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) of 1992, GGR has surged from $400 million to $11 billion in 2023.