The Keystone State’s 12 licensed casino operators have recently set a brand-new all-time high record for gambling winnings in a single month. According to the revenue figures that were released by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board last Monday, the casinos managed to rake in whopping $309.1 million from slot machines and table games – the amount represent a modest but still very significant 2.86 percent year-over-year increase. The previous record was from March 2018 when the state’s casinos brought in $300.5 million. That was the first and only other time that the casinos flew past the $300 million mark.
- Slot machine revenue: $226,597,681.24 (+2.37 percent)
- Table game revenue: $82,527,450 (+4.25 percent)
- Sports betting revenue: $5,519,340
- Total gaming revenue (including sports): $314,644,471
The Individual Casino Performances
| CASINO | MAR-19 | MAR-18 | CHANGE % |
| Parx Casino | $56,799,077 | $54,635,233 | 3.96% |
| Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem | $50,935,397 | $46,770,619 | 8.90% |
| Rivers Casino | $35,757,627 | $33,546,172 | 6.59% |
| SugarHouse Casino | $27,524,093 | $28,705,735 | -4.12% |
| Harrah’s Philadelphia | $25,056,283 | $24,767,142 | 1.17% |
| Hollywood Casino | $24,038,736 | $23,696,663 | 1.44% |
| The Meadows Casino | $22,897,366 | $23,442,457 | -2.33% |
| Mohegan Sun Pocono | $21,514,508 | $22,749,633 | -5.43% |
| Mount Airy Casino Resort | $16,347,609 | $15,497,865 | 5.48% |
| Valley Forge Casino Resort | $13,154,276 | $11,575,606 | 13.64% |
| Presque Isle Downs and Casino | $12,345,643 | $11,892,259 | 3.81% |
| Lady Luck Casino Nemacolin | $2,754,516 | $3,236,628 | -14.90% |
The stellar gaming results recorded in March were aided but a record performance by table games during the – the gaming vertical brought in more than $82.5 million – the closest to this amount was recorded way back in April 2017 and it was almost $3 million lower than the current record. Slot machine revenue, on the other hand, raked in a total of $226.6 million and even though it is very impressive, it is still just the third-largest amount recorded by slot machines since the state’s gaming industry went live back in 2006.
Pa. Sports Betting
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board also released revenue figures for the state’s regulated sports wagering industry, which has been in operation since late last year. The licensed sportsbooks have enjoyed wagering handle of $44.5 million as well as revenue of $5.52 million in March 2019. This 30 percent rise in handle and a 300 percent increase in revenue was likely to have been boosted by the NCAA’s March Madness tournament.
Hopefully, March was not just a fluke for the state’s sportsbooks and it will be able to sustain that momentum. In fact, with online and mobile sports betting set to finally make their debut long before the July 15 launch date for the state’s online gaming industry.
General speaking, the Keystone State’s legal gambling market especially the newly launched offerings such as sports betting are performing very well and this is expected to get even better in the not so distant future.