Pennsylvania casinos going strong as revenues rise

Overall, gamblers in August left behind US$ 210 million at the state's casinos. That's an increase of nearly US$ 5 million from a year ago, but gaming control board officials say it's too early to deem that the two-year decline of slot machine revenues is over.

”It's definitely encouraging to see it up over last year, but we're going to have to monitor it over the next several months to determine if there's a trend," said Richard McGarvey, gaming board spokesman. "One in a row isn't enough for me."

Parx Casino in Bensalem led the way with US$ 32.3 million in revenue, followed by US$ 25.9 million at Sands Casino in Bethlehem and US$ 24.7 million at Rivers in Pittsburgh.

Mount Airy Casino in Paradise Township, Monroe County, brought in US$ 14.4 million, but that was an encouraging 7.3 percent gain over last year.

After casinos opened in 2006, slot machine revenue statewide saw a steep incline for more than five years, helping Pennsylvania overtake New Jersey as the second-biggest casino gambling state in the nation, behind only Nevada. But slots revenue peaked in 2012 and has been ticking down slowly since.

Whether August represents a change in course or not, it's a much better situation than regulators are facing in neighboring New Jersey. Since Pennsylvania began poaching New Jersey's customers, revenue at Atlantic City casinos has plummeted from US$ 5.2 billion in 2006 to less than US$ 3 billion last year.

As a result, three of its 12 casinos have closed so far this year and the Trump Plaza is scheduled to close Sept. 16. Among those was the closing earlier this week of the Showboat Casino and Revel, the glitzy US$ 2.4 billion casino that opened just two year ago with hopes of reversing Atlantic City's fortunes.

For now, Pennsylvania casinos appear to be holding their own. In August, the state's 12 casinos paid a collective US$ 112 million in state taxes on its slot machine take.