South Dakota residents and visitors might find additional gaming opportunities at Deadwood gaming operations, tribal casinos and through the state lottery.
State voters in November approved an initiative that would allow tribal casinos and gaming operations in Deadwood to add craps, keno and roulette to their existing games of chance. The measure, Amendment Q, passed with 57 percent of voters supporting and must be approved by the state legislature.
Supporters of the initiative say expanding gaming options should help to draw younger bettors and keep more gaming dollars in the state instead of losing them to nearby casinos in Colorado and Iowa. If the legislature gives the okay, the table games could become active in July.
Although the ballot initiative passed easily, the nonprofit Family Heritage Alliance Action says it oppose the measure in the Legislature, the Associated Press reported.
“This is nothing more than addiction by design,” Family Heritage Alliance Action Executive Director Dale Bartscher told the Associated Press. “The Legislature has the opportunity to say, ‘No more.'”
Advocates told the Associated Press they anticipated opposition from the Family Heritage Alliance Action but are confident the legislature will agree with the majority of voters and approve the measure.
Meanwhile, the South Dakota Lottery Commission intends to promote state gaming rather than attempt to expand lottery gaming again in 2015.
State lottery commissioners say they suffered too many setbacks this year when they tried to expand video lottery gaming in the state and in 2015 will focus their efforts on illustrating and promoting the benefits of gambling, the Associated Press reported.
The commission in 2014 failed in two efforts to expand video lottery gaming and increase the amount people could bet in the state and hopes that, by illustrating the benefits of increased lottery gaming opportunities, they can try again in 2016 with a strong likelihood of success.
The Lottery Commission has “an opportunity this year to become more acquainted with new legislators and to sell positive aspects of video lottery,” Chairman Chuck Turbiville told the Associated Press.
Those positive aspects include more than $97 million in anticipated revenues over the coming year from video lottery gaming versus more than $12.5 million in combined revenue from online and instant games, the Associated Press reported.
With a focus on promoting the benefits of gambling in South Dakota, the commission unanimously decided against funding a study that would have looked into the extent of problem gambling.
The Lottery Commission in early December considered three proposals from consulting groups to conduct the study with the bids ranging from $518,500 to $600,000, the Rapid City Journal reported. The cost proved to be a deciding point.
“We probably had our eyes opened a bit with the cost of this one,” Commissioner Jim Putnam said, according to the Journal.
Turbiville told the Associated Press he hopes the new Legislature will appreciate the commission’s “fiscal conservatism” in nixing the study as well as the amount of money gambling generates for the state.
The commission initially anticipated the study would help in its efforts to persuade legislators to expand gaming opportunities, according to the Journal.
Opponents to expanded gaming in South Dakota say the study would have illustrated the ill effects of gambling addiction and doubt the cost was why the commission decided against it.
“It’s not that there’s no money,” South Dakota Family Policy Council Pres. Mark Chase told the Journal. “It’s just that they don’t want to see the truth in the study.”
