The reels are always spinning in the gambling industry, and “The Double Down” is here every Friday to catch you up on all of the week’s biggest news. Sports Handle’s “Get a Grip” rounds up everything on the sports betting side, and US Bets provides the best of the rest: brick-and-mortar happenings, mobile casino app updates, poker headlines, horse wagering, and more. So pull up a chair, crunch the numbers, and slide forward another stack of chips.

Nacho grandfather’s Super Bowl

We are officially inside one month until Las Vegas, the gambling capital of the Western Hemisphere, hosts its first Super Bowl. The preparations are in full swing. The hype is building.

And hospitality workers at 21 properties are threatening to go on strike.

Yes, this week, the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and Bartenders Local 165 announced a Feb. 2 deadline for new contracts before they go on strike. The Super Bowl is scheduled for Feb. 11 at Allegiant Stadium.

It was just a couple of months ago that the Culinary Union threatened strikes by workers at MGM, Caesars, and Wynn properties, with the Vegas F1 race providing ample leverage for the casino giants to get a deal done.

The Super Bowl offers even higher leverage. Hey, Formula 1 is a big deal, but the NFL eats pieces of crap like F1 for breakfast. There’s nothing bigger in the U.S. than football, which accounted for 97 of the 100 most watched U.S. TV broadcasts last year.

So if some 7,700 hospitality workers at properties on and off the Strip, including Circus Circus, Binion’s, Rio, and Circa, are picketing rather than pampering in February, Las Vegas will have at least a small-scale disaster on its hands.

But, the F1 leverage helped force the big properties to the table, and the Super Bowl leverage figures to do the same with these medium-sized casino brands. Nobody seems to be panicking about an actual strike just yet.

Instead, it’s full steam ahead all over town preparing for the Big Game.

The NFL has taken charge at Allegiant Stadium, getting the venue itself set.

Casinos are announcing parties and performances galore, such as the BetMGM Big Game Bash that includes comedian Bill Burr that Friday and country musician Luke Combs that Saturday.

Ex-athletes are hosting soirees such as “Shaq’s Fun House” and “Gronk Beach.”

Other sports events are filling out the calendar, including an ESPN-televised boxing card at Mandalay Bay on the Thursday night of Super Bowl week.

But no pre-Super-Bowl news has our attention quite like what’s happened at the Luxor. The pyramid-shaped hotel-casino on the Strip has turned its east side into a giant billboard for Super Bowl sponsor Doritos.

Pretty cheesy, if you ask us.

It’s only going to get wilder over the next four weeks, until the Super Bowl descends upon Sin City. Logic suggests there will probably be no major workers’ strikes when the big week arrives, but then again, crazier things have happened.

After all, the Texans and Buccaneers are both hosting playoff games this week, a parlay we don’t think too many bettors out there played before the season started.

This week on Gamble On …

Every Thursday, US Bets drops a new episode of the Gamble On podcast, and this week’s welcomed “The Chief,” RotoGrinders’ Will Priester, to offer his insights on the odds as the NFL playoffs begin — and suffice to say Priester isn’t sold on the defending champion Chiefs:

Miami plus the points! @chiefjustice06 explains to #GambleOn why he believes the Dolphins — despite all the injuries and weather concerns — are the right side against the Chiefs on Saturday night: https://t.co/wPSKOn7xi7 pic.twitter.com/03r6lXgWjn

— US Bets (@US_Bets) January 12, 2024

Is this the year, New York?

Sen. Addabbo Files 2024 Bill To Legalize ICasino In New York

Industry Trade Group Releases Ad Calling For Legal Online Casino In New York

You gotta know the backstory

‘The Gambler’ Is The Most Famous Song About Gambling, And That’s Just The Start

A new spin on roulette

Progressive Wagering Game Roulette Up Debuts In U.S. Online Casinos

Motown momentum

Detroit Casinos Rebound, Post $111.4 Million In December Revenue

GRIT and grind

Federal Legislation Seeks To Fund Efforts To Combat Gambling Addiction

Industry Insiders Make Responsible Gambling Predictions For 2024

Skill or be skilled

Some Virginia Legislators Push To Undo Ban And Allow Skill Games

Boldly going where no slot has gone before

BetMGM Debuts Online Slot Based On ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’

More from around the gambling biz

ON THE BOBBLE: Bobbling along: Landmark Las Vegas sign earns new honor [Las Vegas Review-Journal] 

SOCIAL SITUATION: Amazon says federal law bars consumers’ ‘social casino’ lawsuit [Reuters]

PEAK PREAKNESS: Preakness owner, Maryland authority push to revamp Pimlico, shift horse racing from Laurel [The Daily Record]

PAMUNKEY BUSINESS: Pamunkey Tribe submits latest construction plans for Norfolk casino [WHRO.org]

TOP OF THE CHARTS: Pechanga Resort Casino named best casino outside of Las Vegas [IndianGaming.com]

EXECUTIVE DECISIONS: Two more executives leave Fontainebleau [Las Vegas Review-Journal]

TURNING TIDE?: Alabama House Republicans discuss gambling bill in closed meeting [AL.com]

Image: Blundell Design