Iowa Casinos Banked Nearly $143 Million In Revenue For December

Not quite a boom, but the holiday rush helped grow the adjusted gross revenue at the 19 Iowa casinos from the previous month according to the December report produced by the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission last week.

Iowa’s 19 casinos reported adjusted gross revenue of $142.5 million for December, up almost five million from November. 11 of the 19 casinos saw their revenue rise.

The biggest number in the 8-page report is the $1.3 billion on slot machines in December. That produced a revenue of $127.9 million for the state alone.

The total of $142.5 million is still less than the state’s report in October ($146.5 million) and September ($146.0 million).

The December revenue translates into $28.4 million in state tax. These numbers reflect just the casinos and do not include the state’s growing sports betting markets and affiliations.

Last June, citing the saturation of the market, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed a bill preventing any new casinos from receiving a license until 2024.

Breaking down December revenue numbers

After slot machines, the next biggest revenue producer in the Iowa casino landscape is blackjack, which accounted for $4.2 million, then electronic table games ($2.1 million), craps ($1.7 million) and then Ultimate Texas Hold’Em ($1.2million).

The casino with the biggest revenue for the second month in a row was Prairie Meadows Racetrack and Casino, which reported 19.7 million, followed by the Ameristar II ($15.4 million), the Riverside Casino and Gold Resort ($10.4 million).

The full list of casinos ranked by revenue is below:

Prairie Meadows Racetrack & Casino – $19.7 million
Horseshoe Casino Council Bluffs – $17.1 million
Ameristar II – $15.4 million
Riverside Casino & Golf Resort – $10.4 million
Rhythm City – $10.1 million
Isle Casino Hotel Waterloo – $8.2 million
Hard Rock Casino – $8.0 million
Diamond Jo – Worth – $7.8 million
Grand Falls Casino Resort – $7.0 million
Harrah’s Council Bluffs Casino and Hotel – $6.0 million
Isle of Capri Bettendorf – $5.9 million
Diamond Jo – Dubuque – $5.8 million
Lakeside Casino – $4.1 million
Q Casino – $3.9 million
Catfish Bend Casino – $3.8 million
Clinton Wild Rose – $2.9 million
Jefferson Wild Rose – $2.8 million
Emmetsburg Wild Rose – $2.3 million
Casino Queen – Marquette – $1.4 million

Slots ruled but which Iowa casinos had the best payouts?

Clearly, with almost 90% of the casino revenue coming from slot machines, Iowa residents know what they like to play when they go to a casino.

Prairie Meadows ($192.2 million), Ameristar II ($142.8 million), Horseshoe Council Bluffs ($127.8 million), Riverside Casino ($97.3 million) and Rhythm City ($89.7 million) were the top five casinos when it came to amount of money placed on a slot machine (coin in).

But were they the best places to win? The Commission report also lists each of the 19 casino’s average daily win on a slot machine. Here’s the full listing in order of the biggest daily payouts in December.