The Saracen Casino Resort has added a new dimension to its live gaming profile.
In addition to offering Arkansas sports betting with its online app and a physical sportsbook, the facility in Pine Bluff now offers a chance at huge slot machine payouts.
According to a report from Little Rock NBC-TV affiliate KARK, the casino is now part of a progressive slots network that is linked to Las Vegas and several other states. With progressive slots, players at different locations bet on the machine, called Wheel of Fortune, and a winner can collect the entire jackpot.
“The biggest jackpot paid in Arkansas reported history is $93,000. That was here,” Saracen Casino Chief Marketing Officer Carlton Saffa told the station. “The machine behind me, right now, it’s a penny machine and the jackpot is $2.7 million.”
The report said that Saracen is the first Arkansas casino to link jackpots to machines in other states.
Update on Sports Betting in Arkansas
The progressive slot at Saracen is just the latest bit of news in a state where the gaming market options are growing.
In August, Oaklawn Casino signed a deal with the Kambi Group to offer an online sportsbook. That began operation in September, meaning that all three casinos in the Natural State now have mobile sports wagering and in-person betting in addition to more traditional fare such as table games and slots.
Online sports betting in Arkansas became legal in 2021 and the three casinos all moved at their own pace to implement online sportsbooks.
Southland Casino in West Memphis became the first facility in the state to launch an online sports betting product, with Betly.com, in March. Saracen came next, launching the BetSaracen app in May.
Record Sports Betting Handle in September
In September, the three casinos combined for almost $21.2 million in sports betting handle, by far the most in state history since retail sportsbooks began taking bets in July 2019. The advent of online wagering, combined with the return of football season in September, helped to shatter the mark of $12.6 million in wagers on sporting events placed in June.
But major national operators – ones that typically would offer Arkansas sportsbook promo codes – have thus far steered clear in Arkansas.
Famed companies such as DraftKings, FanDuel, Caesars and BetMGM Arkansas are absent in Arkansas thanks to a state provision in which sportsbooks must give 51% of their profits to the local casino partner. In most states, that take is in the 10% to 15% range.
MORE: Arkansas online casinos
