Gaming Wins Are Still Low at Arkansas Casinos
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While casino revenue across states continues to improve, that of Arkansas casinos is still low. The Saracen Casino Resort is the only gaming facility in the state with better results than other casinos. The profit accumulated in May was better than April’s, making this casino the only one with good improvement.
Ideally, Saracen casino collected over $1 million sportsbook handle in May. According to statistics released by the Arkansas Racing Commission, Saracen’s sportsbook collected $964.218 in April, which is lower than that of May. After subtracting the winnings paid to bettors from the handle, the casino remained with $57531 more money in May than April’s profit.
At the moment, there are three commercial casinos in Arkansas. These include Saracen, southland casino racing situated in West Memphis, and another in hot springs, Oaklawn Casino Racing Resort. There would be four casinos if the one located at Russellville were not tied to a legal battle.
The last two casinos have witnessed a month-to-month revenue decrease in their sportsbook handle. The Southland Casino collected $1.8 million wagered money in May, a decrease from $2.2 million in April. Thus, the casino lost $236000 in May.
The Oaklawn Casino registered a handle of $873841 in May and $901475 in April. Its profit for May was $97179 less than that of April, $172062.
The southland casino may have a reason as to why it collected less revenue. The interstate 40 bridge linking Arkansas and Tennessee at Memphis was closed.
This followed after some experts analyzed and discovered a fracture on the six-lane road. This closure slowed down the overall commerce in West Memphis, where the southland casino is located.
The casino might also record similarly less profit in June and July.
According to Memphis commercial appeal, the repairs on the six-lane road are slated through July. Considering closure of the lane is contributing to low profit, business at Southland Casino might continue to lag until reconstruction of the six-lane structure.
However, this might change once we enter fall. At that time, the National Football League will kick off. The league provides vast bet markets. So sports betting in these casinos will increase, raising the revenue.
There Is No Mobile Betting
Mobile betting in Arkansas is not entirely illegal. For a player to bet on a smartphone, he/she must be within a casino sportsbook or facility. Yet, no casino in Arkansas offers mobile betting services.
Thus, players away from a casino property cannot bet on sports events. Yet, the state’s neighbor to the south allows mobile sports wagering. Louisiana recently approved a bill allowing bettors to bet on their smartphones.
This happened in a legislative session that ended on June 10, 2021. However, Governor John Bel Edwards has yet to sign the final bill allowing sports betting in 54 parishes that voted during the November election to allow sports wagering.
Low Revenue Collection Equals Less Tax for the State
Among the three casinos in Arkansas, Saracen had the highest net win on table games in May. It collected $1.86 million in May and $1.75 million the previous month.
Yet, the three casinos gained less revenue on slot machines in May than the previous month. The net wins from all three casinos from slot games, table games, sportsbooks, and any other game in a casino were $11.39 million less in May than in the previous month. The state collected $9.9 million in taxes from the three casinos in April and $7.8 million in May.
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