Munchies

How to play Munchies

The VGT dispute and construction reset are the latest chapters in a long and bumpy road for Bally’s since winning Chicago’s sole casino licence in 2022. Work has been halted for debris overflow and for unapproved contractors, and the company faced an $800 million funding gap that was eventually filled through a financing agreement with Gaming and Leisure Properties. Potential interference with city water lines also necessitated a significant redesign of the hotel plan.

At one point, the IGB ordered a temporary work stoppage at Bally’s permanent casino following reports of alleged ties between an unapproved dumpster service with organised crime.

Bally’s has been granted two years’ worth of extensions for the permanent project. State law allows for two-year temporary licences, but the Illinois Gaming Board approved an extension to three years in 2023. That pushed the deadline to this September, but Bally’s ultimately received another year’s worth of extensions through language included in the state’s omnibus revenue bill that was passed in June.

How to play Munchies

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.

Under IGRA, gaming is generally prohibited on land taken into trust after 1988 unless it qualifies under specific exceptions. Scotts Valley claims its Vallejo property falls under the “restored lands” exception for federally recognized tribes.

What is Munchies?

“Three dice, three main bets and a result players can read from across the pit make the game learnable in a single round—an on-ramp for younger guests and for the many players who walk past a craps table because they don’t want to learn it in public,” the company stated.

Its primary deviation from street Cee-lo is that it doesn’t treat 1-2-3 as an automatic loss, or trips or a pair-plus-six as strong wins.

In the casino version, each hand is structured as Bank versus Shooter, with a tie bet available. When the shooter lands 4-5-6, the table yells one word—Headcrack!—and a skull-and-dice display lights up.

50 Cent Headcrack will be offered to commercial casino operators in both traditional and automated dice technology formats.

As of press time, no casino has publicly committed. That conversation, in all likelihood, will take place at G2E, where the real dice will roll.