Viral Spiral

About Viral Spiral

The mayor has not opined this summer, at least publicly, on if he believes Bally’s will open the casino in the first quarter of 2027. However, Johnson indicated in March that his administration is committed to projects such as Bally’s Chicago that foster economic development, while creating new jobs for numerous neighborhoods across the city.

“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.

What is Viral Spiral?

Cleopatra’s Barge opened in September 1970 in what is now the Nobu Hotel tower, replacing the earlier Nero’s Nook lounge. The 180-seat lounge featured as its centerpiece a “floating” stage designed as a replica of the vessel aboard which the Egyptian queen is said to have bewitched Mark Antony.

The pleasure craft, installed in a shallow lagoon, featured a gold-painted, topless figurehead that extended far into the public walkway. Guests quickly turned rubbing the statue’s golden breasts for luck into a classic Vegas tradition; staff regularly repainted the most-touched areas.

Vital Vegas ranked the display No. 4 on his 2014 list of “10 Things You Can Rub for Good Luck in Las Vegas Without Getting Arrested,” a list that featured three other Caesars Palace entries: the hand of the Caesars statue (No. 1); Joe Louis’s boxing gloves (No. 8); and the toe of Michelangelo’s David replica (No. 9).

The barge itself never actually floated, by the way. That was just a myth. It sat on a fixed platform that created a mild rocking motion. That piece of Vegas engineering, like the statue’s original perch, is now history.

About Viral Spiral

FATF’s warning on illegal and offshore gambling will resonate in Denmark. Last year, Spillemyndigheden secured a court order to block 178 unlicensed gambling sites, the largest such action in the regulator’s history. 

The case highlighted how illegal operators disguise their presence through multiple site variations, a tactic the FATF report also flags as a red flag indicator. 

Denmark’s approach reflects a wider pattern that FATF has tracked for years through its own grey and black listing system. Under this system, jurisdictions with weak AML/CTF controls face increased monitoring or reputational sanction.