Harry Milas stars in “The Unfair Advantage” running at Steppenwolf Theatre. Pat Nabong/Sun-Times When Harry Milas was 17, he tried to cheat in a professional backroom card game in his hometown of Sydney, Australia. “Trying it was terrifying, and then being found out was terrifying,” says Milas, 33. But unlike in the 1995 Martin Scorsese movie “Casino,” no one hauled him in to a private room and smashed his fingers with a hammer. “It was a warning,” he says. “They said, ‘You need to be careful.’ They threw me a bone.” ‘The Unfair Advantage’ When: Through May 5 Where: Steppenwolf Theatr ..read more

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp’s impending retirement has upped demand for tickets for the Reds’ last Premier Leagues contests. Dave Thompson/AP LAS VEGAS — This time, John Murray will watch Liverpool play in person for the second time and hope there’s no pepper-spray residue in the air nor mayhem on the grounds outside the stadium. The executive director of race and sports at the Westgate SuperBook will see his beloved Reds play Wolves at Anfield in Liverpool on May 19, the final Premier League match day. Which is also the last Liverpool game for 56-year-old Jurgen Klopp, its manager si ..read more

Mayor Brandon Johnson shakes hands with Soo Kim, chairman of the board of directors at Bally’s Corporation, during a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Bally’s Casino Chicago at Medinah Temple in October 2023. Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times file Chicago’s casino bet on Bally’s could go bust if the company goes private, according to a pair of high-profile investors trying to block a takeover effort by the debt-laden corporation’s chairman, Soo Kim. As Bally’s scrambles to secure $800 million to build its permanent casino in River West, Kim’s bid “jeopardizes the completion of the Chicago project, putting ..read more

An exterior view shows the Tropicana Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada. The hotel-casino opened in 1957 and will close on April 2 to make way for a planned $1.5 billion stadium for MLB’s Oakland Athletics. David Becker/Getty LAS VEGAS — In the 1971 film “Diamonds are Forever,” James Bond stays in a swanky suite at the Tropicana Las Vegas. “I hear that the Hotel Tropicana is quite comfortable,” Agent 007 says. It was the Tropicana's heyday. The lavish casino was a frequent haunt of the legendary Rat Pack, while its past under the mob cemented its place in Vegas lore. But after welcoming gues ..read more

Reporters watch a video screen displaying the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani (right) and interpreter Will Ireton during a news conference Monday at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Jae C. Hong/AP LAS VEGAS — In Tokyo, Bob Whiting couldn’t help but witness the Shohei soliloquy Monday. It was all over the world’s largest newspaper, Yomiuri Shimbun, and NHK, the country’s leading TV channel. The only recent pock against the baseball superstar had been going 0-for-3 in an exhibition game, a mortal stat line that still placed Shohei Ohtani top-of-the-fold on the front page. However, the betting shenani ..read more

BetRivers Sportsbook, the first brick-and-mortar sportsbook approved by the Illinois Gaming Board, opened in March 2020. Illinois gamblers have wagered more than $31 billion since then. Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times As bets roll in on another season of March Madness, Gov. J.B. Pritzker is aiming to bust the tax bracket for Illinois sportsbooks and net the state a bigger piece of the action from a still-booming billion-dollar sports wagering market entering its fifth year. Casino sportsbooks across Illinois have paid a 15% tax on their revenue after paying out winners since legal betting launche ..read more

An artist’s rendering of Bally’s planned Chicago casino. Provided With each passing month, the planned Bally's Chicago casino seems less like the promised sure thing that will generate enough revenue to help solve the city's pension crisis, and more like a potential bust. Last week, Bally's bosses said the gaming company is searching for $800 million to fund construction of the casino, planned for the Chicago Tribune's Freedom Center site at Chicago Avenue and Halsted Street. Bally's officials said they are hopeful they can find a lender for the cash by summer. But they better get cracki ..read more

Mayor Brandon Johnson looks on as Soo Kim, chairman of the board of directors at Bally’s Corp., speaks during a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Bally’s Casino Chicago at Medinah Temple in River West, Tuesday morning, Oct. 3, 2023. Kim is trying to take the publicly traded Bally’s private. Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times As Bally’s races to secure financing to bridge an $800 million “funding gap” for its planned Chicago mega-casino, the publicly traded corporation could soon become privately owned. Bally’s on Tuesday formed a special committee to evaluate a bid from New York hedge fund Standard General ..read more

The new 16-story Wind Creek Casino and Hotel is set to open in late summer in the south suburban East Hazel Crest-Homewood area. Manuel Martinez / WBEZ Just a year ago, a plot of land sat empty on South Halsted Street. Now it’s about to be the site of one of the tallest buildings in Chicago’s south suburbs. The Wind Creek Casino and Hotel will make its debut by late summer, straddling East Hazel Crest and Homewood. “It will be a nice addition to the Southland. The opportunities for employment, both construction as well as hospitality and the casino operations, are enormous,” Homewood May ..read more

Connor Bedard is on pace for a 60-point season after missing six weeks with a broken jaw. Rick Scuteri/AP LAS VEGAS — Jeff Davis saw 74.5 on Connor Bedard’s preseason points total, for his rookie Blackhawks campaign, and quickly nabbed under at -115. Davis, the ace Circa Sports puck oddsman, learned long ago that taking under is the smart way to play many player propositions. At Caesars, he had concocted yardage totals for NFL players. “You’d make a number for a full season, then you’d chop out some because if it’s going to go over, everything has to go right,” Davis said. “If it’s going ..read more