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The government of Laos, one of the world’s few remaining one-party communist states, is still chasing more than $5 million from the American businessmen behind a casino venture that descended into a bitter legal battle more than a decade ago.
A US appeals court last week gave Laos another chance to pursue casino entrepreneur John K. Baldwin and his company, Bridge Capital, for the money.
The ruling is the latest twist in a dispute dating to 2012 that has involved allegations of government interference, a failed settlement, and three international arbitration awards.
About Ultimate Hold N Win
The lesson is simple: gambling still attracts capital when the money is visible. It is less attractive when the payoff lies far in the distance.
The biggest new uncertainty in US sports betting is prediction markets. The American Gaming Association estimates that Americans will legally wager $29.5 billion in betting handle through US regulated commercial sportsbooks during the 2026 NFL season, broadly unchanged from the $29.4 billion handle recorded in 2025. These figures refer to the amount wagered, not sportsbook revenue.
Robinson calls prediction markets “the main event”. His argument is not simply that US customers are moving from sportsbooks to prediction markets. The more important point is that sportsbooks no longer have the relatively protected market that was once assumed.
What is Ultimate Hold N Win?
Despite those warnings, the tribe opened its “Preview Casino” on July 24, offering Class II gaming out of modular structures.
Six days later, Interior determined that the land did not qualify for gaming under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA), forcing the tribe to shutter the operation and take the federal government back to court.
The arguments came as Scotts Valley asked US District Judge Trevor McFadden to issue a preliminary injunction blocking Interior’s July 30 decision. The outcome of the dispute directly threatens the tribe’s much larger ambition for the site: a proposed $700 million casino resort and hotel.
