Bettors Wager Nearly $1M on New Deadwood Games in 1st Month

RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) — Bettors plunked down nearly $1 million in July on new games offered in the historic Black Hills gambling town of Deadwood.

A new law took effect July 1 allowing keno, craps and roulette in Deadwood. The new games were overwhelmingly approved by South Dakota voters in November and authorized by lawmakers earlier this year.

The goal is to attract younger gamblers, as well as those who might otherwise go to Colorado or Iowa to seek out the games.

The Rapid City Journal reports statistics from the South Dakota Commission on Gaming show bettors wagered about $583,000 on craps, $392,000 on roulette and $7,500 on keno during July.

Slot machine play during the month was down about 1.8 percent, but the new games boosted table game action by 14 percent.

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