Live greyhound racing there ended in December. During the year the complex was rebranded as Southland Casino Hotel. The renovation added a 113,000-square-foot casino floor with 2,400 slot machines and 50 table games and 20-story, 300-room luxury hotel and eight restaurants. Much of Southland Casino Hotel’s success over the last months is attributed to a $320 million project that owner Delaware North completed in 2022 to transform the property into a full-fledged Las Vegas-style casino destination. Arkansas' revenue ranked 19th of the 35 states tracked by US casino industry trade group American Gaming Association. Total revenue includes wins from terminal games like slot machines and video poker, table games like craps and blackjack, and sports betting, both within casinos and online. For its part, Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort in Hot Springs reported a total win of $159.3 million, up nearly 9% from $146.2 million in 2021. Saracen Casino Resort in Pine Bluff placed second for the year by reporting total revenue for 2022 of $162 million, up nearly 5% from $154.6 million delivered in the previous year. Southland Casino Hotel in West Memphis posted the largest win with $298.8 million, up nearly 11% from 2021. The figure implies nearly a 9% increase from $564.8 million delivered in 2021. The paper contends that change has cost public education about $1 million annually and hundreds of racing and breeding industry jobs.Combined total revenue for Arkansas casinos in 2022 was $614 million, according to information provided by the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration. The paper said that state lawmakers took the games away in 2015 after the Coeur d'Alene Tribe and National Indian Gaming Association lobbied against them. The Idaho Statesman has endorsed the initiative, noting it would save horse racing in the state.

If approved, the added gaming would fund increased live racing. Voters in November will decide if they want to amend state law to allow the machines at locations that conduct pari-mutuel wagering on live or simulcast races. With historical racing gone, Idaho racing offered just 23 races in 2016 and 16 in 2017. But after initially approving the machines, Idaho lawmakers repealed that decision. More than $1.1 million was awarded in purses in both 20, with 181 races offered in 2014 and 168 in 2015.

After Les Bois Park went under in 2009, it was able to re-open in 2011 thanks to help from historical racing machines to fund purses.

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