It's the second major casino purchase offer in two months, but it didn't surprise one longtime observer of the Las Vegas gaming business.

In an interview with CDC Gaming at Thursday’s conference, Alan Feldman, director of Strategic Initiatives and distinguished fellow for Responsible Gaming at the UNLV International Gaming Institute, said the deal has the opportunity to be “extraordinarily beneficial” to both companies and all the markets that they serve.

Brett Abarbanel never realized just how important gambling would become in her life. She always knew she was going to someday become a professor of gambling — she just didn’t know how that was going to happen.

The 19th International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking set for this month has added new keynote and panel presentations spanning sports betting, artificial intelligence, regulatory oversight and risk in the entertainment industry.

The masterclass “Betting on Influence: An Analysis of Sports Betting Influencers” will teach sportsbook operators how to use influencer marketing in a responsible and effective way.

Artificial intelligence has been around for decades, but its use has surged since the onset of ChatGPT. That growth is now reshaping the gaming industry, raising both big opportunities and new concerns about trust and player protection.

Saying Las Vegas needs to use every tool it can to attract tourists and offer experiences they want during a downturn in visitation, the CEO of Fifth Street Gaming continued his push for a marriage between the casino and cannabis industries.

Casino companies should be allowed to offer marijuana on their premises, although doing so would require a change in state gaming regulations and laws, some experts argued on Friday. During the third annual Cannabis and Gaming policy discussion — jointly sponsored by the UNLV International Gaming Institute and the Cannabis Policy Institute — state lawmakers and gaming industry experts discussed changes to current state policy.