The proponents of the gambling legislation in South Dakota could not be happier as the Deadwood gambling issue is finally going to be solved in the next few weeks.
As many as 46 House members gave the nod to the gambling legislation, while 22 were against it. Nevertheless, Deadwood is going to have its craps, keno and roulette facilities established as soon as Governor Dennis Daugaard signs the bill.
Actually, the majority of local authorities seem to approve of the gambling expansion. The Mayor of Deadwood, Chuck Turbiville, told the media that he would be glad if one day he visits the casino and sees a lot of excited people around the gaming facilities.
In addition, he said that the availability of craps, keno and roulette would definitely make the city more popular and attractive to tourists. Actually, Mayor Turbiville regards the gambling proposal as the beginning of “a new era”.
The question about the gambling legislation has been on the agenda for quite some time. Proponents of the legislation were absolutely convinced that the region can become a serious rival of the neighboring states that are working towards expanding their gambling segments as well. Back in November, the so called Amendment Q was approved, which, therefore, made the implementation of new games in South Dakota possible.
Although there are some additional details that need to be ironed out, the South Dakota Commission on Gaming announced that the new games are expected to be launched by the middle of the summer.
Nobody has thought that the bill would attract proponents only but the opposition was more severe than expected. Those who were against the expansion of the gambling sector said that it would do more harm than good to the area and the worst thing is that it was likely to cause financial and gambling addiction issues.
What made State Representative Steve Hickey particularly worried was that people apparently do not realize that in order decent revenues to be generated, residents have to lose their money.
There is another side of the coin, though. The Executive Director of the Deadwood Gaming Association, Mike Rodman, shared that everyone involved in the expansion of the gambling sector is happy with the outcome.
Mike Gustafson, a key figure in the Deadwood Mountain Grand also said that the availability of the new games would be beneficial to the tourism and as many as six properties are expected to accommodate the new gambling facilities.
