Deadwood casinos see slight decrease in June
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After a one month rebound in gaming handle results for May, Deadwood's casinos saw another slight decrease in gambling for June, adding to a year-to-date deficit when compared to 2021.
According to the South Dakota Commission on Gaming's report for June, the total gaming handle decreased by 1.61% when compared to June 2021. That is a continued trend from March and April, when gaming handle decreased by 6.52% and 13%, respectively. There was a slight increase in May with a positive gain of 1.77% when compared to May 2021, but not enough to stave off a calendar-year decline in gaming handle.
So far in 2022, Deadwood's casinos have experienced a 0.97% decrease over the same time frame in 2021.
"While June’s numbers were down slightly, we are comparing them to a 20.88 percent increase in June of 2021,” said Mike Rodman, executive director of the Deadwood Gaming Association. “Visitation to Deadwood still remains historically strong.”
In June, gamblers put more than $127 million in slot machines, $6.5 million in chip purchases for table games and $301,217 in sports bets. In all, visitors to Deadwood's casinos spent nearly $134 million on wagers and chip purchases in June.
Slot machine handle decreased 1.47% in June, when compared to June 2021, on Deadwood's 2,601 machines. So far in 2022, slot machine handle is down by 1.18% compared to 2021.
The commission's report shows Deadwood's 93 table games saw an 8.28% decrease when compared to June 2021. Table games were down by 5.53% year-to-date.
Sports wagering included $301,217.36 in June's handle and a statistical win for gamblers of $27,869.05. These results were better for players than April's results, which for the first time showed a loss since wagering was legalized last year. Most bets in April were placed on Major League Baseball games, followed by National Basketball Association and National Hockey League games.
The casinos had a taxable adjusted gross income of just over $11.7 million in June, with $1,053,140.15 in taxes due to various state, county and local government entities.
Through the first six months of 2022, gamblers in Deadwood have spent nearly $717 million on wagers and chip purchases, a decrease of 0.97% when compared to 2021.
So far in 2022, slot machines handled nearly $672 million, a 1.18% decrease over the same time period in 2021. Table games saw nearly $42 million in chip purchases, also a decrease over 2021. Sports wagering year-to-date is nearly $3.5 million.
The report showed casinos rewarded players with more than $1.4 million in "free play" during June.
