Slot pulls, dice rolls, and card flips that once happened in relative anonymity now play out for audiences in the hundreds of thousands. Gambling creators on YouTube and Instagram are turning casino floors into stages, pairing high-dollar wagers with prize giveaways and big personalities. Many casinos have loosened their once-strict filming rules to reach a younger crowd.
El Cortez Hotel & Casino in downtown Las Vegas has been among the most welcoming, working with creators and hosting livestreams since 2017 or 2018. General manager Adam Weisberg says he recognized the potential almost immediately.
“I sort of realized right away this is a whole different kind of reach, a more personal reach that people are seeing,” says Weisberg, vice president and general manager of the El Cortez Hotel & Casino. “It was very quickly obvious that this was going to be important.”…