DEADWOOD, S.D. (KELO) — Deadwood gaming numbers took a downturn for the second month this year.
After seeing its first decrease in 18 months in March, July was also a slower time for Deadwood gaming.
“There is a little downtick and I do think it has to do with last year, there was a lot of stimulus money out there and now we have higher inflation and people that are more dollar conscience on what they are going to spend and what they are going to spend it on,” David Schneiter, GM of Cadillac Jack’s, said.
For the entire month, the gaming handle was down 8 percent.
According to the Deadwood Gaming Association, gaming numbers for the whole year are still up by 2 percent.
“I think we will still see strong visitation and maybe come close to some of those 2021 numbers. We hope to see that going into the fall and I think we are still seeing good things happening here in Deadwood,” Mike Rodman, Deadwood Gaming Association, said.
Casinos, like Cadillac Jack’s, says it’s because competition areas have opened back up.
“You’ve got Las Vegas fully open, you’ve got a lot of the other jurisdictions that don’t have the restrictions that were in place so there is more competition nationwide, there is more opportunity for those people to gamble closer to home,” Schneiter said.
The Deadwood Gaming Association says because 2021 was such a busy year, we could see more numbers decrease in the months ahead.
“We are up against those numbers but we are still pleased with what we’ve seen so far,” Rodman said.
“If we could even be close to 2021, I would be ecstatic,” Schneiter said.
Deadwood Casinos are looking forward to football season starting next month. The town is also coming up on its one year anniversary of the start of sports wagering.
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