Keno rebounds after slow June with good July

The plunge in Hall County keno wagering in June was back up for July.

"It was very short-lived," Stacey Ruzicka, Hall County keno administrator, said of the decline.

Wagering in June, at a total of about $375,000, marked a 32 percent decline from May's wagering of $551,000.

Officials speculated that the June 1 implementation of a citywide smoking ban in Grand Island was the culprit.

But wagering in July jumped up 39 percent over June, Ruzicka said, to just more than $520,000.

"It wasn't as high as May, but it looks to be on the rebound," she told county supervisors this week.

Ruzicka said smoking bans in other communities have initially led to declines in sales at bars and restaurants, but sales rebounded after a few months. She said the same may be true in Grand Island with regard to keno sales.

Ruzicka said the county will need more months of wagering data to tell for certain if the numbers will stay up.

But not everyone believes the decline was related to the smoking ban. Bonzai Beach Club owner Brent Lindner, who runs a satellite keno site there, attributed the decline to the state of the economy, including high food and fuel prices.

Hall County board Chairman Bud Jeffries has another theory for the June decline.

"I think it was more flood-related," he said.

A total of 9.8 inches of rain fell in Grand Island in June, according to the National Weather Service office in Hastings. It caused many flooded basements and much property damage.

"There could be several factors here," said Todd Otto, manager of Fonner Keno, which operates the county's keno game. "But I have to think the smoking ban had some impact because all locations had a decline."

Fonner Keno runs its main game at Fonner Park with six satellite locations at Bonzai Beach Club, the Chicken Coop, Ole Cow Palace, Bosselman's Travel Center, Balz Sports Bar and the Platt-Duetsche.

Keno revenues are important to the county board as a budgeting tool. Supervisors have used the dollars to pay for a share of the Heartland Events Center, for roads maintenance and general property tax relief.

The board decided on Wednesday that a portion of keno proceeds from 2009 through 2014 will go toward infrastructure improvements at Fonner Park to help with the relocation of the Nebraska State Fair.