NY: Del Lago Casino wants to lower number of slots

“As del Lago Resort & Casino looks forward to beginning offering sports gaming in conjunction with our DraftKings partner, we are seeking to reduce the number of slots to construct our sports gaming facility and make other improvements for our customers," Steven Greenberg, a casino spokesman, said in a statement to the USA Today Network's Albany Bureau.

The Tyre, Seneca County, casino confirmed it is asking the state Gaming Commission to allow it to reduce the number of slot machines it currently has on its 90,000 square-foot gaming floor.

Del Lago declined to say how many fewer machines it hopes to have or if it would also cut its number of table games, Democrat and Chronicle reports. State regulations currently require the casino to have at least 1,950 slot machines, 84 table games and 10 poker tables.

The four upstate casinos are preparing to soon offer sports betting onsite. The state is finalizing the regulations.

On Monday, the Gaming Commission granted Resorts World Catskills and Tioga Downs in the Southern Tier the ability to lower its slot-machine inventory.

For the $1 billion Resorts World, the reduction was sizable: It was allowed to shed 26 percent of its machines, down to a minimum of 1,600 slots.

Tioga Downs was approved to go from 942 slots to 892 slots.

Without any additional changes, del Lago would have the most slots of any of the four upstate casinos approved in 2014.

Rivers Casino in Schenectady has 1,150 slot machines, and a spokesman said it has not sought a reduction from the state.

The request from del Lago comes amid ongoing concerns about its financial footing after opening in February 2017 and failing to meet its own revenue projections.