Casino City’s Friday Five: 2021 World Series of Poker is here edition

The events are underway and the cards are being dealt all around Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas for this year’s edition of the World Series of Poker. We have several bracelets already dished out to winners along with our first online event victor.

Before we go into more details on those champions, we have some other news around the industry to touch on first. Intertops Casino Red is having a casino contest, a new sportsbook in Louisiana, a new golf experience in Las Vegas and a major expansion completed at a North Carolina resort.

Let’s begin with some online fun at Intertops:

5. $150,000 Fortune Teller contest at Intertops Casino Red
Players will compete for top weekly prizes until 8 November. The casino is also doubling deposits and giving bonus spins on Witch's Brew. A brand-new Halloween slot, Bubble Bubble 3, arrives next week.

Each week during the $150,000 Fortune Teller Contest, 300 players will win a total of $30,000 in prizes.

Intertops Casino players earn points when they play any of the casino's hundreds of real-money casino games.

Players with the most points win the biggest bonuses -- up to $500 each, every week. The weekly top 20 will be entered in a final draw for a $1,000 cash prize.

The fortune teller predicts big winnings for you at Intertops Casino! Grab your portion of cool weekly prizes! https://t.co/nSGDRI322i pic.twitter.com/VR1YSpd3pe

— Intertops Casino (@IntertopsCasino) October 5, 2021

4. The STRAT Hotel Casino & SkyPod to welcome new golf experience
Golden Entertainment announced earlier this week that it entered into a definitive agreement with Flite Golf & Entertainment to bring Atomic Range, a new 92,000-square-foot golf entertainment destination, to seven acres of company-owned land adjacent to The STRAT Hotel, Casino and SkyPod in Las Vegas.

Atomic Range, a production of Flite Golf and located at The STRAT, will be a premier golf entertainment destination that offers an immersive, technology-enhanced experience through game play and entertainment.

Atomic Range will span nearly seven acres, rise four stories and host 103 separate hitting bays when it opens in 2023. It will also include four bars, meeting space and a 12,000-square-foot Astrocade.

We are excited to announce that Atomic Range, a premier golf entertainment destination, will be coming to The STRAT!

Atomic Range will span nearly seven acres, rise four stories and host over 100 separate hitting bays when it opens. ?? https://t.co/7byhDv21tC pic.twitter.com/6GaAml2sBG

— The STRAT Las Vegas (@stratvegas) October 5, 2021

3. New sportsbook opens at Louisiana casino
Paragon Casino Resort is proud to announce a partnership with Betfred Sports.

Betfred Sports expanded to Louisiana with its latest location through the addition of a Las Vegas-style sportsbook at The Draft Room at Paragon Casino Resort, which opened on Wednesday morning.

Betfred Sports operates a traditional sportsbook in The Draft Room – Paragon’s newest amenity – comprised of traditional theater seating, a custom video wall, betting counters and kiosks.

The Draft Room offers full-service betting, so both locals and out-of-state travelers can wager on their favorite teams from across the country.

?? A first-class sports betting platform means Thursday night football will never be the same.

?? Come to The Draft Room for full-service betting! @BetfredSports#paragoncasinoresort #ThursdayNightFootball pic.twitter.com/nHwElPnyq8

— Paragon Casino Resort (@ParagonCasino) October 7, 2021

2. Zamani wins first online bracelet of 2021 WSOP series
Martin "Bathroomline" Zamani of Boca Raton, Florida earned his second World Series of Poker bracelet early Monday morning by taking down WSOP.com’s Online Bracelet $5,300 NL Hold'em Freezeout for $210,600.

The one-day, single-entry online tournament attracted 156 runners and paid out 30 players. Play lasted for nearly 11 hours and then final table commenced with eight players remaining.

Zamani won a crucial flip at the final table to eliminate Brian "JackBogle" Altman in third place and entered heads-up play with a massive chip advantage. He eliminated Ankush "Rickrosstheb" Mandavia when he got it in with jack-seven against king-five and flopped trips.

1. Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort completes $330 million expansion
The North Carolina resort held a ceremonial ribbon cutting last Friday to celebrate the opening of its fourth hotel tower, The Cherokee, and an 83,000 square-foot Cherokee Convention Center.

The all-new Cherokee tower features 19-stories, 725 rooms and seventy suites with a design concept rooted in earth tones with accents of burnt sienna, golden hues, and charcoal gray along with a mix of eucalyptus and walnut woods.

More than tripling the rentable convention space at the resort, the new 83,000-square-foot convention space at Harrah's Cherokee Casino Resort features three-levels of various meeting spaces for both large and small groups.

Highlighted by one-of-a-kind views of the Smoky Mountains, the venue is complete with a 32,000 square-foot ballroom, 33,000 square-foot exhibition hall, pre-function space and more.

Following our ceremonial ribbon cutting, we now welcome guests to our fourth hotel tower, The Cherokee, and 83,000 square-foot Cherokee Convention Center.https://t.co/UteEHzNTxA pic.twitter.com/QlqDX6mvnn

— Harrah's Cherokee (@HarrahsCherokee) October 1, 2021