MGM Aria Gets Caught Advertising 'Illegal' Gambling Site

The line between what's legal and what's not in the world of online gambling has taken on a most unusual turn with MGM Aria's casino property caught advertising a gambling website that borders more on the "illegal".

But between offshore sportsbooks and iGaming sites that operate with licenses obtained internationally along with sweepstakes casinos and Daily Fantasy Sports companies, it's truly become blurry.  Throw in Kalshi's prediction market and it's easy to see why nobody really seemed to notice Aria advertising Monkey Tilt, an online gambling platform not regulated in the state of Nevada.

Monkey Tilt's logo appears on an Aria poker table in an episode of PokerGo, a program that is sometimes produced at Aria. Among the gamblers at the table was Samer (Sam) Mohammed Kiki Jr., founder and CEO of Monkey Tilt. He did not respond to numerous requests for comment by the Nevada Current, nor did MGM general counsel John McManus did not respond when approached by the Nevada Current in regard to the awkward situation.

Monkey Tilt launched in March and has already amassed a monthly betting volume of $200 million.  Kiki is a former employee of MGM and Caesars Entertainment.

This comes as a U.S. District Court judge announced two weeks ago that  he’ll move quickly to determine whether the Nevada Resort Association can intervene in a lawsuit filed by Kalshi.

Judge Andrew Gordon took under advisement petitions from the NRA and from the Nevada Gaming Control Board on a lawsuit filed March 28 by KalshiEx LLC, a prediction market regulated by the federal Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

The Control Board on April 23 filed a motion to dismiss the Kalshi complaint but earlier this month, Gordon granted a temporary restraining order preventing the Control Board from shutting down Kalshi’s market in Nevada, which closely resembles a form of sports wagering.

“The consequences from this litigation for the NRA’s members are seismic,” the NRA said in its legal filing.

Kalshi co-founder Tarek Mansour is determined to fight, not just in Nevada, but in every other state to ensure Kalshi can operate.

“There has been overregulation in the US and now I think things are moving in another direction," he recently told Bloomberg.  "And I think that's a good thing.”

By  Gilbert Horowitz Gilbert is the esteemed reporter for Gambling911 covering all gamuts of the industry.  He has been with the site for the better part of a decade.  Gilbert works out of the Miami Beach bureau.