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Longshots abound in PA All-Stars action at Pocono – U.S. Trotting News

Longshots abound in PA All-Stars action at Pocono

July 18, 2022, by PHHA for The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono

Wilkes-Barre, PA – Four $30,000 divisions of a Pennsylvania All-Stars event for 2-year-old trotting fillies were featured on Monday (July 18) afternoon at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, and after a favorite started the stakes action off, it was a longshot player’s delight the rest of the way.

Broadway Sensation wins a division of Pennsylvania All-Stars racing on a day of upsets at Pocono. Curtis Salonick photo.

There was no hint in the air of what was to come when the Father Patrick – Evelyn filly Vanessa J won as a heavy favorite while taking a maiden mark of 1:57.3 in an easy 4-1/4 length victory. Tim Tetrick guided the winner, who had been fourth in a PA Sire Stakes in her only other purse start, for owner/trainer Lucas Wallin, who has had quite the profitable relationship with Tetrick as of late.

Heavy favorite Angelpedia made the lead in another All-Stars division, but then she made a break past the eighth, leaving the race wide open. In the end, it was the International Moni – Possessed By Lindy filly Pembroke Moni who made the best rally in the last quarter, scoring her second career victory in a 1:58.3 mile by 1-1/4 lengths for meet-leading driver Matt Kakaley, trainer Mark Ford, and owner William Varney. The first four finishers in this race went off at 16-1, 26-1, 6-1, and 99-1.

David Miller won the other two races, although not getting the pari-mutuel respect a Hall of Famer is usually due. He guided the fastest All-Stars winner of the day, the Donato Hanover – Movitational Miss Portulaca,…

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Longshots dominate PA All-Stars action

WILKES-BARRE, PA – Four $30,000 divisions of a Pennsylvania All-Stars event for two-year-old harness racing trotting fillies were featured on Monday afternoon (Jul. 18) at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, and after a favorite started the stakes action off, it was a longshot player’s delight the rest of the way.

Broadway Sensation and driver David Miller won at 53-1 odds (Curtis Salonick Photo)

There was no hint in the air of what was to come when the Father Patrick – Evelyn filly Vanessa J won as a heavy favorite while taking a maiden mark of 1:57.3 in an easy 4¼ length victory. Tim Tetrick guided the winner, who had been fourth in a PA Sire Stakes in her only other purse start, for owner/trainer Lucas Wallin, who has had quite the profitable relationship with Tetrick as of late.

VANESSA J REPLAY

Heavy favorite Angelpedia made the lead in another All-Stars division, but then she made a break past the eighth, leaving the race wide open. In the end, it was the International Moni – Possessed By Lindy filly Pembroke Moni who made the best rally in the last quarter, scoring her second career victory in a 1:58.3 mile by 1¼ lengths for meet-leading driver Matt Kakaley, trainer Mark Ford, and owner William Varney. The first four finishers in this race went off at 16-1, 26-1, 6-1, and 99-1.

PEMBROKE MONI REPLAY

David Miller won the other two races, although not getting the pari-mutuel respect a Hall of Famer is usually due.

He guided the fastest All-Stars winner of the day, the Donato Hanover – Movitational miss Portulaca, who won a Pennsylvania Sire Stakes in her only other purse start and here lowered her…

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FanDuel Casino Offering New Online Games in Michigan, Pennsylvania

Michigan and Pennsylvania are the only places where you can get the original Detroit-style pizza and Primanti Bros. sandwiches, respectively, but those aren’t the only things the two states can claim mutual exclusivity on. As of Monday, the two states share a rarity in the US online casino industry as well, pertaining to FanDuel Casino specifically.

Michigan and Pennsylvania are now the only places online casino players can access live dealer games from a dedicated FanDuel studio. It’s unclear whether these games could be available across other FanDuel brands in other markets right now.

Michigan and Pennsylvania online casino games feature FanDuel Casino addition

Michigan online casino and Pennsylvania online casino games now feature a new brand in town. According to a Monday press release, FanDuel Casino now has its own live dealer content in both gambling hot spots. The deal is an expansion of FanDuel’s existing partnership with Evolution Gaming. However, the studio bears FanDuel’s branding, not Evolution’s.

The release says “all of FanDuel’s live dealer games” will stream from the studios. Specifically, the release mentions blackjack and roulette. Among advantages for players, FanDuel says the live experience will allow it to offer exclusive promotions to its players.

Many online casino players prefer live dealer games because they are more true to an in-person casino experience. With a dedicated studio, FanDuel will be able to offer a more intimate experience as well.

To whatever degree Michiganders and Pennsylvanians prefer live dealer games, they’ll be the only ones to enjoy this new FanDuel content for the foreseeable future.

What about Connecticut, New Jersey, or other brands?

FanDuel also offers its online casino product in New Jersey and West Virginia. Furthermore, it operates the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut plus the Stardust online casino in New…

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‘Open Book’ by Arooga’s Helps Secure 50-Unit Development Deal

Arooga’s signed a big development deal this week that—if completed—will double the size of its footprint, adding 50 restaurants over eight years in Florida and five counties in the greater Atlanta area.

That’s a tall order, but Pam Price, co-owner of franchisee The Sporting Group, says she and her business partner are up for the challenge. She’s not an experienced operator herself, with only one turn as a franchisee years ago, but she has worked for decades helping other brands grow.

“I’ve helped facilitate hundred of locations on the development side,” she says, for brands including Dunkin’ Donuts and Church’s Chicken.

Arooga’s has 10 corporate locations in Pennsylvania, and opened its first franchise location in Uncasville, Connecticut, adjacent to the Mohegan Sun Resort and Casino in March as part of a 15-unit deal with the Mohegan tribe.

Price’s visit to that franchised restaurant, and the tribe members’ willingness to share their due diligence, helped her to decide on Arooga’s. So did the executive team, including Keith Swade, director of franchise development, and Gary Huether, president and co-founder.

Huether describes the vision for Arooga’s Grille House & Sports Bar, started seven years ago, in great detail, then sums it up like this: “We were looking for a sports bar that didn’t have crappy food, I guess you could say. We put a lot more focus on our food quality” than competitors, he says.

In her consulting work, Price said, “I used to tell everybody, if you can get an exclusive territory and help control that area, that’s the best way to grow.” She was examining many sports bar brands when the Arooga’s group was brought to her attention.

Although a young brand is risky, to her it’s the only way to go. “In order to get an exclusive territory like that, you’ve got to jump on board with…

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Former UConn women’s basketball guard Bria Hartley makes Connecticut Sun debut in Tuesday’s win over Liberty

UNCASVILLE — Bria Hartley had only been in Connecticut for about 12 hours before she checked into the Connecticut Sun’s game against New York in the final minutes of the first quarter at Mohegan Sun Arena.

Hartley, playing point guard for the Sun, was quick to adjust to her new team and dished out an assist to Alyssa Thomas just 20 seconds later to give the Sun a three-point lead.

The former UConn women’s basketball guard arrived in Uncasville around midnight Monday after the Sun signed her to a rest-of-season contract earlier in the day. On Tuesday, Hartley made her debut with the Sun in its 82-63 win over New York as she returned to the state where she once led the Huskies to two straight national championships and was named an All-American.

“It’s exciting,” Hartley told Hearst Connecticut Media before Tuesday’s game. “Obviously there’s a lot of basketball culture here in Connecticut and being also from UConn, you get a lot of support. It was posted on Instagram and Twitter and it was just like an outpouring of support and that’s really nice to have.”

During the offseason, Hartley, in her ninth season in the WNBA, was traded to Indiana from Phoenix as part of a three-team trade involving the Fever, the Mercury and Chicago. The Sky traded Diamond DeShields to Phoenix along with its 2022 and 2023 first-round picks to Indiana. In return, Phoenix traded Hartley and its 2022 second-round pick to Indiana and its 2023 first-round pick to Chicago. The Fever completed the trade by sending Julie Allemand to Chicago.

Indiana placed Hartley on a partial suspension to start the season since she was…

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Photo finish camera needed in feature pace

WILKES-BARRE, PA – Frazzleberry (Art Major) got his own way on the lead past the half in the $13,000 featured harness racing pace at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono on a hot Tuesday afternoon (Jul. 19), but he still had to work hard late to hang on to a nose victory over Fulsome in 1:54.2.

Frazzleberry (#3 far inside) just holds on at the wire (Curtis Salonick Photo)

George Napolitano Jr. moved Frazzleberry to the lead early, got a :30 second breather in quarter two, but then faced a challenge from first-over Fulsome most of the way home.

Others joined in the dash to the wire, but the camera showed Frazzleberry a winner by the smallest of margins over his grinding foe, with Ripplesonthebeach third, just a neck from taking it all after photoing out late-clearing Win Place’N Show for the show dough.

Frazzleberry has now captured two of his last three starts, with a second in between, for trainer Jose Godinez and the partnership of Joseph Betro, Ian Behar, and Kristie Leigh Farm Inc.

FRAZZLEBERRY

In the first of two $12,500 trotting co-features, Top Me Off, a son of Bar Hopping who was the winningest three-year-old trotting male in North America last year with 15 victories, posted a second successive success with a 1:54.4 triumph, moving in front of the stands to take control and going on to win for driver Matt Kakaley and trainer/owner Arlene Cameron, who combined for a pair of wins on the card.

The other top trot went even more quickly, as driver George Napolitano Jr. took his second feature of the day, this one with Can’t Say No (Explosive Matter) in a lifetime best 1:54. The winner never relinquished control from the pole and…

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Sun shut down Liberty in win

Jul. 19—MOHEGAN — DiJonai Carrington had not been making enough of an impact off the Connecticut Sun bench for head coach Curt Miller’s liking during Tuesday afternoon’s game, so the two had … a dialogue.

“Curt got (on) me a little bit in the third quarter and I had to respond,” Carrington said.

What exactly did Miller say?

Carrington laughed, paused and replied, “Play hard.”

Carrington did more than enough after her conversation with Miller. She scored 14 of her career-high 18 points during a decisive fourth quarter as the Sun pulled away from the New York Liberty 82-63 before a raucous crowd of 6,288 at Mohegan Sun Arena, many of which were youngsters attending the game as part of Camp Day.

Alyssa Thomas stuffed the stat sheet with 18 points, 13 rebounds, six steals and five assists for Connecticut (17-9) and Brionna Jones had 21 points and eight rebounds. Natisha Hiedeman added 10 points and four assists.

Former UConn standout Bria Hartley, who signed with the Sun on Monday and arrived in town after midnight, played over 12 minutes and had two assists.

Sabrina Ionescu had 13 points, five rebounds and four assists for the Liberty (9-16) and UConn’s Stefanie Dolson added 12 points and six rebounds.

Carrington had been in a shooting slump over the previous 10 games. She shot 25% from the floor during that stretch and averaged almost as many steals (1.2) as made field goals (1.3).

Carrington made 5 of 7 shots and all six of her free throws Tuesday.

Miller, when asked what he told Carrington in the third quarter, began smiling.

“I have conversations with ‘Nai all the time,” Miller said. “(I) just challenged her to be really sound. She can gamble a little bit. She can try to do too much on the offensive end and we needed her defense. We needed her…

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Total gaming revenue in Pennsylvania tops $5 billion

Total gaming revenue topped $5 billion in the state for the first time in fiscal year 2021-22, which ran from July 1 to June 30, according to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.

The board reported Tuesday that total revenue from slots, table games, internet gaming, sports wagering, video gaming terminals and fantasy contests totaled $5,042,967,392 during that time period.

Additionally, the combined tax revenue from gaming during the fiscal year topped $2 billion for the first time. The estimated amount, prior to any adjustments by the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue, is $2,052,630,568, according to the board.

The previous high for gaming revenue and tax revenue was $3.87 billion and $1.59 billion during 2020-21, according to the board.

The board said the overall revenue increase from the previous high fiscal year can be attributed to a record high in revenue for table games along with continued growth in the sports wagering, internet gaming and video gaming terminal markets.

At Mohegan Sun Pocono in Plains Twp., table games revenue increased more than 18% from nearly $28.4 million in 2020-21 to nearly $33.6 million in 2021-22. Slot machine revenue increased 31.5% from nearly $145.4 million to nearly $191.2 million in that time period.

At Mount Airy Casino Resort in Monroe County, table games revenue increased more than 9% from nearly $38.5 million in 2020-21 to about $42 million in 2021-22. Slot machine revenue increased nearly 4% from about $135.45 million to about $140.8 million in that time period.

In the same time period, both Mohegan Sun Pocono and Mount Airy saw decreases in both internet gaming and sports wagering revenue.

At Mohegan Sun Pocono, internet gaming revenue declined about 22.6% from about $31 million to about $24 million and sports wagering revenue decreased about 4.5% from about $3.4 million to nearly $3.27 million.

At Mount Airy, internet gaming revenue declined about 25%…

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Evolution Opens Blackjack, Roulette Live Dealer Games In Connecticut

For Connecticut online casino players, the wait is officially over for live dealer games. Evolution Connecticut studio live dealer games have the digital table, quite literally, in the state.

Evolution ended a mandatory soft-launch period for its new studio in Connecticut on Monday, transitioning to a full launch. However, the product still faces some limitations that will hopefully end soon.

A soft launch of Evolution casino games in Connecticut

According to a press release from Evolution, the studio in Fairfield launched its product for all players on Monday, July 18. At full strength, the studio should employ almost 400 people.

The soft-launch period that preceded this launch is a standard operating procedure in Connecticut. When online casinos and online sports betting first began in the state, the operators followed the same practice.

Unfortunately, the wait continues for Evolution Gaming‘s full complement of live dealer games. Currently, the limitations on the type of games available have carried over from the soft-launch period.

Both online casino operators will offer live dealer games

The press release further states that Evolution’s studio presentations are now available on both DraftKings Casino and the FanDuel-powered Mohegan Sun Casino. However, only blackjack and roulette games are currently on the menu.

Evolution’s full offerings list several more games, like:

  • Baccarat
  • Craps
  • Dragon Tiger
  • Poker variants
  • Super Sic Bo

The release says more of those games will be available “later this year.” The eventual accessibility of all live dealer games, especially under Evolution’s brand, will put the online casino products in Connecticut on par with the same in any other US state.

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Newly-acquired Chaney, hard-hitting Cusumano headline CES Boxing’s long-awaited return to Mohegan Sun Arena August 20 at Summer Heat – Boxing News

Uncasville, CT – CES Boxing returns to Mohegan Sun Arena for the first time in nearly seven years Saturday, August 20 with Summer Heat, the latest installment of its 2022 Fight Series featuring two of the sport’s hardest-hitting heavyweight prospects.

CES’ newest acquisition, 6-foot-6 right-hander Cassius Chaney of New London, CT, and 6-4 Carini, Sicily, native Juiseppe Cusumano headline Summer Heat in separate bouts. The two CES stablemates have combined for 41 wins and 32 knockouts in nearly two decades as pros and find themselves firmly entrenched among the nation’s top 20 heavyweights with an opportunity to inch closer to the dream of competing for a world title.

Summer Heat kicks off at 7 pm ET. Tickets are available online at cesfights.com or through the Mohegan Sun box office. August 20 marks CES’ first show at Mohegan Sun Arena since October of 2015, renewing a long-standing partnership between the region’s top combat sports promotion and one of the world’s foremost entertainment venues.

In addition to the highly-anticipated heavyweight showcase, Summer Heat features the long-awaited return of New London female featherweight icon Shelly Vincent, undefeated Irish super middleweight Francis Hogan of Weymouth, MA; and fast-rising bantamweight prospect Angel Gonzalez of Hartford, CT.

Hogan (11-0, 10 KOs), another recent addition to the CES roster and a member of the Iron Workers Local 7 union, returns after cruising to a unanimous decision win over Rodrigo Lopes Rodrigues in June. The undefeated Gonzalez (10-0, 6 KOs) aims for his fourth win of the year in as many tries, which includes a hard-fought victory over Ira Terry at CES’ April 2 showcase in Connecticut. Stay tuned for additional fight announcements.

Chaney (21-1, 14 KOs) returns to his home state August…

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