State data: Jefferson running loosest slots

By DOUGLAS BURNS
d.burns@carrollspaper.com

Wild Rose Jefferson’s 526 slot machines collectively offer gamblers the best odds of payback for any casino in the state, according to official reports covering three months filed with the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission.

For the month of September, Wild Rose Jefferson kept 7.91 percent of the money played on slot machines with the remainder flowing back out to players. The average for the 19 state-regulated casinos stood at 9.32 percent.

The gaming commission’s three-month report — the first to include Jefferson’s Wild Rose, which opened in July — showed Jefferson tied with Prairie Meadows Racetrack & Casino in Altoona with a slot-machine payback percentage of 92 percent.

Horseshoe in Council Bluffs posted the worst odds for slot machines over the July-September window with an 89.2 percent payback.

From its opening through the end of September, Wild Rose Jefferson has pulled in casino revenues of $6.1 million (this doesn’t count food and drink and concert tickets) with 130,695 admissions.

In that time frame, gamblers played $70.6 million on slot machines and wagered $2.8 million on table games.

For the month of September, Wild Rose Jefferson paid almost $21,000 in city and county taxes.