Golden Book

How to play Golden Book

Prediction markets aside, the absence of crypto on a federal level may have some drag on the regulated industry, especially in the iGaming and sports betting space.

Younger patrons are increasingly familiar with crypto, but the lack of regulatory adoption in the regulated space can push bettors to offshore or unlicensed platforms, most of which do accept it. At the ICE Barcelona conference in 2025, a panel of international sports betting CEOs lamented the fact that they were barred from adopting crypto, while their black-market competitors were not.

A report released in June by payment provider Paysafe said the percentage of online sports bettors who dabble in crypto is 64%, more than double the US average of 30%. Crypto deposits are only legal in two states, Wyoming and Colorado, but crypto withdrawals are not legal anywhere – 85% of respondents said they would welcome withdrawals as an option, Paysafe said.

What is Golden Book?

The first audience eruption during our visit came from a pair of Paris Hilton night-vision goggles. When he looked through them, everything turned grainy green as he struck the stiff, awkward posture recognizable from her leaked sex tape. No explanation. No setup. Just the goggles and the pose. The joke was perfectly timed to the cultural moment—the exact kind of gag Letterman would have killed for.

He also showcased a “Tom Cruise Scientology Starter Kit,” featuring a tiny spring-loaded couch so he could reenact the famous Oprah moment.

Throughout the performance, he skewered himself. With the confidence of a headliner who understood his public perception and chose to weaponize it, he held up a Wendy’s sign with a hole cut through the center, poked his face through, and announced: “This is what I look like when I’m trying to get recognized.”

About Golden Book

“We appreciate Bally’s partnership and the thousands of construction workers helping bring Bally’s Chicago Casino to life – a major investment in our city’s future,” Johnson wrote in a social media post on X.

Earlier this year, the Illinois Gaming Board approved 65 VGT licence applications in the city, according to the Sun-Times. VGTs are the highest-grossing gaming vertical in Illinois, generating substantially more revenue and taxes than land-based casinos.

Papanier said the components of Bally’s Chicago that are being “reset and re-contemplated” are “all in conjunction with the proliferation of VGTs”. While the current number of licences is low, he asserted that widespread proliferation could result in a “30% to 50% impact on top-line revenue” for the casino and it would be “irresponsible” to continue construction “until we understand what the landscape looks like”.