Deadwood saw gambling surge in December
DEADWOOD, S.D. (KELO) — Deadwood gambling establishments did a lot of business last month.
The December report from the South Dakota Commission on Gaming showed players bet 20.34% more than the previous December.
Play on slot machines climbed 21.71% to $93,062,611.23. Action on table games went up 2.48% to $6,082,855.50.
The highest level of payout for the month — 99.19% — came on $5 slots. There were 63 among the 2,552 machines.
The 2,008 penny slots attracted the most activity with $70,511,107.06 bet.
The big month had Deadwood Gaming Association executive director Mike Rodman praising Governor Kristi Noem in a statement for her “pro-business approach during the pandemic and her commitment of additional tourism marketing dollars that made these numbers possible.”
Deadwood casinos closed in late March because of COVID-19 and reopened starting May 7. They finished calendar 2020 at $1,122,836,215.70 bet.
“It is amazing that we have bounced back to finish the year down only 2.35%,” Rodman said Friday. “This put Deadwood’s casino win for 2020 at almost $104 million dollars.”