Fantasy games boost business at Helena tavern
Dapper D’s pub and casino in Helena regularly produces winners in the Montana Sports Action lottery games, and according to owner Dennis White, who’s also president of the Montana Tavern Association, the fantasy games, “have been a good help for me.”
White explains, “It helps get a good crowd in on Saturdays when people come in to strategize. I’ve had a lot of winners, and I believe we generate a bigger handle than any other facility in Montana.” Through early May, Dapper D’s fantasy players have won nearly $5,000 in the auto racing game.
Looking back at the 2008 professional football season and the beginning of Montana Lottery’s fantasy games, White observes, “I had pretty good action with football, too. I’m anxious to see how it works when both the football and NASCAR games are going.”
White will be the first to point out that the betting facility share of the fantasy game bets is not a windfall, but it generates a lot of traffic. For example, on a recent weekend, his casino produced a $400 betting handle, but with most people placing $5 bets, that’s a lot of traffic. “I have a lot of NASCAR fans who come here,” White says, “It’s the traffic that’s doing it for me.”
While White doesn’t do any special promotion of the fantasy game, other than a plug for the game on his exterior signage, his casino is a gathering place for NASCAR fans. “I already had a NASCAR fantasy game here. For a $35 entry fee, players get $10 million in fantasy money to use over the racing season.”
Does he have any advice for people playing the fantasy games?
“First, have fun,” he says, adding, “You have to strategize. You need to pick the drivers who lead the most laps. If you do that, you’ll end up in the winner’s circle, even if some other driver actually wins the race.”
He also points out that while some players who have placed “quick picks,” letting the computer pick the teams, have been in contention, they have never been among the winners. “I’ve had some discussions with the people at Lottery about how the computer’s random generator comes up with an excessive number of cautions. They also need to come up with a way to replace drivers who don’t qualify for the actual race. If your quick pick team has drivers who don’t qualify, you might as well just tear up your ticket.”
White also kids about the NASCAR schedule itself. “These Saturday night races are a lot slower—plus it wrecks my Sunday business."
Source: The Montana Tavern Times, May 2009, published monthly by Continental Communications, 125 W Granite, Suite 102, Butte, MT 59701.