According to statistics released by the South Dakota Commission on Gaming, Deadwood casino visitors wagered $109 million in February. The casinos saw gaming handle slightly increase by 2.3%, with the biggest being a 4.6% hike in sports wagering handle compared to the same month last year.
Slot machine handle increased by 2.26%, and table game handle increased by 2.70% compared to 2022. During the last month, gamblers put more than $102 million in slot machines, $6.9 million in chip purchases for table games, and $717 thousand in sports bets. In all, visitors to Deadwood’s casinos spent just over $109 million on wagers and chip purchases.
Deadwood’s sports wagering handle was led by wagers on the first rounds of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament and the NFL Super Bowl. Since betting on NCAA’s Men’s Basketball was up in February, March should see a substantial handle when much of the tournament takes place.
According to Mike Rodman, executive director of the Deadwood Gaming Association, given handle numbers thus far, it seems 2023 is poised to be a profitable year for Deadwood. “2023 certainly is off to a good start,” Rodman said, as reported by Rapid City Journal. “We are glad to see 2023 up 1.11% year to date over last year’s strong performance.”
Deadwood gaming operators rewarded players with almost $1.5 million in “free-play” in February, leaving taxable adjusted gross revenues of almost $10 million. At a 9% tax rate, gaming in Deadwood generated over $800 thousand in tax revenue for the state in February.
Original article: https://www.yogonet.com/international/news/2023/03/28/66632-deadwood-casinos-report-109m-gaming-revenue-for-february-driven-by-sports-betting
