South Dakota $1000 Bet Limits in Six Casinos

The bet limit in Deadwood, South Dakota was raised from $100 to $1000 on July 1, 2012, after being signed into law by Governor Dennis Daugaard on March 2, 2012.  Several casinos raised the bet limit at 12:01am on July 1st.  By the end of July, six casinos had been approved for the new $1000 bet limit.

Five of the approved casinos are located in Deadwood, the only place commercial casino gaming is allowed in South Dakota on non tribal land.  The five casinos with higher bet limits in Deadwood are The Lodge at Deadwood, Silverado, Deadwood Mountain Grand, Mineral Palace and Cadillac Jack’s.  Three of these casinos have poker rooms.  Those poker rooms are located in The Lodge at Deadwood, Cadillac Jack’s and Silverado.  While these poker rooms can legally offer $1000 bet limits, only The Lodge and Cadillac Jack’s are actually spreading poker games above $100.  Silverado poker players decided against raising the limit of their weekend 2-100 spread limit game.  Silverado does however offer $1000 bet limits on their table games.

The main game offered with higher bet limits is blackjack.  The limits on the Texas Hold’em games at The Lodge at Deadwood were raised from 2-100 and 5-100 to 2-1000 and 5-1000 spread with an occasional 10-1000 spread limit game.  This makes the games play almost identical to a true no limit cash game as there are few hands with a $1000 bet.  The Lodge at Deadwood poker tables can have as much as $20,000 in play during the biggest games.

In addition to blackjack, bet limits have also been raised on Pai Gow Poker and video roulette in Deadwood.  There have been no additional slot machines added above the old $100 bet limit.

Raising the limits came at a cost to the casinos that chose to take higher bets.  New surveillance equipment is required for approved $1000 bet limit casinos.  All tapes in the casinos with $1000 limits must be reviewed by security staff.  Approved casinos must also keep a higher amount of cash behind the cage.  New chip denominations were approved.  The highest denomination of chip allowed before the new limits was $500, even though none were in circulation in the city.  Casinos may now circulate $1000 and $5000 chips.

The $1000 bet limit is also allowed at reservation casinos.  The Royal River Casino in Flandreau, South Dakota, just north of Sioux Falls, is the only reservation casino that raised their limits to $1000.  Most of the other reservation casinos in South Dakota are in rural areas and are unlikely to raise their limits due to a lack of demand and poor location.

The higher bet limits will help South Dakota casinos compete against neighboring states.  North Dakota has a $250 bet limit.  Minnesota has a $1000 bet limit.  Iowa has no bet limit at all.  Colorado, which is Deadwood’s closest casino competitor, raised their bet limits from $5 to $100 in July, 2009.  Colorado’s higher bet limits, combined with a statewide smoking ban that went into effect in November 2010, hurt Deadwood gaming revenue.  The city’s casinos are betting the new bet limits will draw high rollers not just from Colorado but from the booming oil fields in neighboring North Dakota where there are few casino options.