Nov 4, 2026 | Features Articles, Gaming News
The 2026 Readers’ Choice Awards are officially underway, and your vote could lead to your next casino adventure! Help crown the best casinos, resorts, restaurants, entertainment and gaming experiences across the South and Midwest.
Cast your ballot today for a chance to WIN a Casino Getaway!
Support your favorite properties, help determine this year’s winners and enter for your chance to hit the jackpot on your next getaway.
Don’t miss out—VOTE NOW!
(more…)
Nov 4, 2026 | Features Articles, Gaming News, In this Issue
Some sports years belong to a dynasty. Others belong to a superstar. This year offered fans of all sports outcomes that they may have waited a lifetime to see finally happen. Indiana became a college football champion. American men’s hockey ended a decades-long Olympic gold drought. A woman trained a Kentucky Derby winner for the first time. Along the way, favorites survived, underdogs interrupted the script and a few seemingly comfortable leads disappeared.
For fans watching from the stadiums, living rooms and casino sportsbooks, the appeal went beyond collecting winners. These were stories about expectations: who was supposed to win, who refused to lose and how quickly the difference between the two could vanish. With the final chapters of the calendar still ahead, here are some of the moments that have already given 2026 a place in sports memory.
(more…)
Nov 4, 2026 | Features Articles, Gaming News, In this Issue, Property Reviews
Looking for your next great casino getaway? It all starts at Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino – Lake Charles, Louisiana for great gaming, luxurious accommodations and VIP Experiences.
Southern & Midwest Gaming & Destinations is helping casino players connect directly with casino hosts at some of the region’s premier gaming destinations through our Player Referral Network. Whether you’re interested in complimentary hotel accommodations, special gaming offers, dining benefits or exclusive VIP experiences, your casino play history could help you qualify for personalized offers.
The Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino in Lake Charles, Louisiana, is a spectacular waterfront casino resort combining exciting gaming action, luxurious accommodations, exceptional dining and a wealth of resort amenities. CLICK HERE to complete our secure player referral form with your contact information and gaming preferences, and we’ll forward your request to the Golden Nugget Lake Charles casino host team for consideration.
(more…)
Oct 27, 2026 | Features Articles, Gaming News, Horseracing Tips & Strategies, Winning Tips
The world’s best Thoroughbreds descended on Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky, October 30–31 for the 43rd Breeders’ Cup World Championships, delivering two days of world-class racing, dramatic stretch runs and more than $167.9 million in wagering.
With 14 Grade 1 championship races offering $34 million in purses, the event attracted 81,604 spectators and showcased the sport’s biggest stars on both dirt and turf.
(more…)
Oct 23, 2026 | craps, Craps Tips & Strategies, Features Articles, Gaming News, Winning Tips
Craps creates the illusion that action equals opportunity. Chips are everywhere. Dealers call bets rapidly. Players can wager on individual numbers, combinations, hardways, totals and outcomes that may resolve on the very next roll.
For the advanced player, the important question is not how many bets can be made, it is how much mathematical cost is attached to each dollar of action.
(more…)
Oct 22, 2026 | Blackjack Tips & Strategies, Features Articles, Winning Tips
Blackjack rewards aggression in very specific moments. Doubling down is the clearest example. You voluntarily double the size of your original wager while agreeing to take only one additional card. That sounds like giving up flexibility, yet the move is valuable because it is made when the player’s position is unusually strong.
The advanced lesson is not simply “double 11.” It is to understand why the opportunity is valuable, how table rules change decisions and why bankroll discipline matters when the correct play requires putting more money at risk.
(more…)
Oct 22, 2026 | Features Articles, Poker Tips, Winning Tips
Video poker is one of the few casino games where the player can stand in front of two machines that look almost identical and face meaningfully different mathematics. Sometimes the difference is only two numbers on the pay table, so advanced video poker begins before the cards are dealt.
The benchmark game is full-pay 9/6 Jacks or Better. The “9/6” refers to the payout for a full house and flush: 9 credits for each credit wagered on a full house and 6 for a flush. With optimal strategy, the long-term expected return is approximately 99.54%. That does not mean the player will get back $99.54 from every $100 session. Short-term results can swing because part of the theoretical return is tied to rare premium hands such as the royal flush. It means that across an enormous sample with perfect play, the mathematical house edge is only about 0.46%.
(more…)
Oct 22, 2026 | Blackjack Tips & Strategies, Features Articles
Baccarat may be the casino’s most intimidating simple game. The table can look formal. Scorecards fill with red and blue marks. Players study streaks, roads and patterns. Large wagers appear quickly. Yet once the cards are dealt, the player usually has only one important decision: where to place the bet.
Under standard eight-deck commission baccarat, the Banker wager carries a house edge of roughly 1.06%. The Player wager is about 1.24%. A standard Tie bet paying 8-to-1 carries a house edge of approximately 14.36%. Those three numbers tell most of the advanced strategy story.
(more…)
Oct 22, 2026 | Features Articles, Gaming News, Poker Tips
Combining the excitement of poker with the simplicity of casino table games, Three Card Poker has become one of the most recognizable modern games on casino floors. The game may be relatively young compared to traditional casino favorites like blackjack, roulette, and craps, but it has earned its place among the most popular specialty table games. Combining familiar poker hand rankings with quick decisions, straightforward rules, and opportunities for substantial payouts, the game offers an entertaining alternative for players who enjoy poker but prefer a faster, more accessible casino experience.
(more…)
Oct 22, 2026 | Features Articles, Sports Tips
From DraftKings and FanDuel to Kalshi, Polymarket and other emerging trading platforms, sports betting is evolving. For experienced bettors, understanding differences in pricing, fees, liquidity and analytical tools could be just as important as picking the winner.
Sports betting is undergoing one of its biggest transformations since the introduction of legal mobile wagering. Traditional sportsbooks such as DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM and Caesars have established themselves as familiar destinations for bettors, but a new generation of prediction markets is introducing a different approach to wagering. Platforms including Kalshi and Polymarket, along with financial trading services offering sports-related contracts, are creating additional opportunities for experienced players to evaluate prices, trade positions and potentially reduce transaction costs.
(more…)
Oct 21, 2026 | Features Articles, Gaming News, In this Issue
The word “free” appears everywhere in casino marketing: free rooms, free play, complimentary dinners, show tickets, golf, resort credit and VIP experiences. For a good casino customer, those benefits can be substantial. But experienced players know there is an important distinction between something being complimentary and something having no cost.
Casino comps are a marketing investment. The casino is trying to reward profitable play, encourage a return trip and keep a valuable customer from choosing a competitor. That does not mean the player should ignore them. Quite the opposite. If you are going to gamble anyway, understanding how your play is evaluated can help you receive benefits that better match the value you are already generating. The key is to stop thinking only about actual wins and losses and start understanding theoretical loss.
(more…)
Oct 4, 2026 | Features Articles, Gaming News, Winning Tips
Casino Comp Connection Destination: Golden Nugget Lake Charles
Do You Get Comps at Casinos? Southern & Midwest Gaming’s Casino Player Referral Network connects players with casino hosts to determine comps and benefits for their upcoming visits.
Our featured Casino Comp Connection Destination is the Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Check out our Property Overview and then fill out the form below to see what kind of comps and benefits you might be eligible for. It’s fast, free and easy.
(more…)
Sep 13, 2026 | Features Articles
Roulette brings elegant suspense to gaming floors across the South and Midwest. The spinning wheel and bouncing ball create drama at casinos and resorts from the Gulf Coast to Indiana, blending European sophistication with American flair.
Mathematician Blaise Pascal is credited with the wheel’s origins. In 1655, while attempting a perpetual motion machine during a monastic retreat, he created a spinning device that became roulette’s foundation. The name means “little wheel” in French. Early versions mixed Italian Biribi and other wheel games.
(more…)
Sep 12, 2026 | Features Articles, Gaming News, Property Reviews
There are good ways to end a night at the casino, and then there is hitting a Royal Flush on your very last hand and walking away with $176,491. That was the unforgettable scene recently at Scarlet Pearl Casino Resort, where a guest sat down for what would become one of those casino stories that gets told again and again.
Right in the middle of it was Rusty, one of Scarlet Pearl’s most popular table games dealers and, depending on who you ask, possibly one of the luckiest dealers on the Gulf Coast. Rusty may not be ready to claim that title himself, but the recent six-figure win at his table certainly added another chapter to his reputation.
(more…)
Sep 11, 2026 | Features Articles
There are horse races, and then there is the Breeders’ Cup. For two electric autumn days, the sport of kings transforms into an international spectacle of speed, strategy, fashion, wagering and pageantry unlike anything else in North American racing. When the Breeders’ Cup returns to Keeneland, the event once again places the Bluegrass at the center of the thoroughbred universe.
The Breeders’ Cup is more than a championship series. It is horse racing’s grand finale — a celebration of elite competition where world champions are crowned, fortunes are won and lost at the betting windows, and generations of racing history converge on one unforgettable weekend.
(more…)
Aug 25, 2026 | Features Articles, Gaming News
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.
The $1.25 million Travers Stakes brings one of the year’s strongest 3-year-old fields to Saratoga Race Course on Saturday, August 29. Known as the “Mid-Summer Derby,” the 1¼-mile Grade 1 could go a long way toward deciding the 2026 3-year-old championship. Golden Tempo (5-2), winner of the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes, is the horse to beat, while Renegade (3-1) and rapidly improving Sea Strike (5-1) appear capable of taking him down. Napoleon Solo (8-1) and Baby Vino (10-1) offer legitimate upset potential, while Emerging Market (15-1) and Ocelli (20-1) are intriguing longshots for bettors looking to spice up exactas and trifectas. Check out our race breakdown and full field info!
(more…)
Aug 6, 2026 | Features Articles, Gaming News, Horseracing Tips & Strategies, In this Issue, Winning Tips
Horse racing’s biggest races will look considerably different in 2027 with the launch of a new season-long championship and a historic scheduling change for the Preakness Stakes.
Churchill Downs Incorporated and the New York Racing Association have announced the new Thoroughbred Championship Series, a six-race competition designed to keep the nation’s leading 3-year-old Thoroughbreds competing—and racing fans engaged—from May through September, and the Preakness Stakes will race one week later and on Sunday instead of the traditional Saturday slot.
(more…)
Jul 12, 2026 | Features Articles, Gaming News, In this Issue
Congratulations Chef Jackson Reichel!
Thank you to everyone who voted in this year’s Casino Chef Showdown!
After two exciting rounds of voting, readers have crowned Chef Jackson Reichel of Scarlet Pearl Casino Resort as this year’s Casino Chef Showdown Champion with his Pistachio Crusted Grouper. This also gives Scarlet Pearl Casino Resort back-to-back Casino Chef Showdown victories with Chef Alison Spicer winning the contest last year.
(more…)
Jul 6, 2026 | Gaming News
Welcome to Southern & Midwest Gaming’s Player Referral Network…YOUR CASINO HOST CONNECTION!
Whether you’re a casual visitor or a frequent player, the Casino Player Referral Network will match your gaming preferences, favorite destinations, and travel interests with participating casino hosts who may be able to provide personalized offers, complimentary perks, exclusive promotions, or VIP experiences.
There’s no cost, no obligation, and your information will only be shared with participating casino partners that match your preferences.
Send us your casino request today! It’s fast, free and easy!
(more…)
Jul 2, 2026 | Blackjack Tips & Strategies, Features Articles, Gaming News
In blackjack, few decisions create more anxiety — or opportunity — than the split. The concept appears simple: when dealt two cards of identical rank, a player may separate them into two independent hands by placing an additional wager equal to the original bet. Yet mathematically, splitting is one of the most nuanced and strategically valuable tools in the game. Proper splitting decisions can significantly reduce the house edge, while poor ones can quickly compound losses.
(more…)
