KMEG 14 - News, Weather, Sports for Sioux City and Siouxland | South Dakota Casinos Hope New Games Win Big

South Dakota Casinos Hope New Games Win Big

You see them everywhere in South Dakota casinos, video lottery machines like black jack and keno, but many of those games haven't changed much since the late '80's.

When you add that to South Dakota's 2010 smoking ban, many casinos are hurting for business.

Now hometown casinos have some new games that they're hoping will be a big win.

They're called "line-up" games,they're kind of like slot machines, and places like Beano & Sherry's in North Sioux City are hoping they become a big draw.

South Dakota's had video lottery since 1989 and a lot of the games haven't changed much since.

But now, veteran players are in store for something new: "line-up" games.

"We're really excited about them; we think they're going to breathe some new life into the video lottery industry," says Kory Menken, a Chairman with the South Dakota Lottery Commission.

Beano and Sherry's has 23 of these new machines, and the best way to describe them are sort of like slot machines. You touch the screen and match the symbols.

"They've got free spins, they've got extra bonuses, a lot of the extra whistles that we didn't get to have before," says Sherry LaFleur, Owner of Beano & Sherry's Casinos.

She hopes the machines help gain back some of the losses her business has seen since South Dakota's 2010 smoking ban.

"November 10th of 2010, you've seen a decline like you've never seen one before, and it remains," says LaFleur. "North Sioux City's down about 33% collectively since the smoking ban started."

Things are the same across the state. Last year the decline in video lottery meant a revenue drop of more than $16 million for South Dakota.

"I think the smoking ban was perhaps the wake up call, or the shove we needed to say 'hey, lets bring some new games to video lottery, lets bring some new life and some new opportunities, basically options to the players," says Menken.

New games that South Dakota casinos are hoping will win big for business.

Beano & Sherry's will have five more of the games coming within the next month.

LaFleur says these new games will help reverse that decline, but they're not going to completely reverse that loss in business.

LaFleur says these new machines themselves are kind of gamble. She's had to buy the new ones, get rid of old games that are already paid for, and just hope that these new games catch on.