July best month ever for Pennsylvania casinos

Most of the casinos in fact saw a decrease in slots revenue from last year, but the addition of us$ 14.5 million from the recently-opened SugarHouse Casino in Philadelphia made July a record month overall.

On average, there were 1,500 more slot machines in active play this July than there were the year before. Gaming Control Board Chairman Greg Fajt said there has been a 45 % increase in the number of table games since they were introduced a year ago.

That has driven an increase in casino employment, he said. “As a labor intensive operation, this means casinos require more trained employees to fill these well-paying jobs, and certainly with an unemployment rate of 7.2 % in Pennsylvania, every new job is meaningful,” said Fajt.

As of July 1, total employment at Pennsylvania’s casinos stood at 15,064, a 7 % increase over the previous first quarter of 2011.

Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course employs 1,392 according to the Gaming Control Board’s most recent report. The East Hanover Twp. facility took in us$ 3.3 million from table games, it’s third-best month on record.

Slots revenue for Hollywood — at us$ 22.3 million in July — was down 6.1 % from the year before.