Slots revenues grow 28 % in Pennsylvania

The Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh officially opened Sunday, bringing in us$ 1.6 million in revenues for their opening day and two test nights.

The new, stand-alone, category two casino added 3,000 machines to the statewide total of 24,868. Overall, the state's slots operations produced us$ 40.1 million in revenues and more than us$ 22 million in tax revenues for the state. Pennsylvania casinos must pay a minimum of 55 % in gaming taxes on their revenues, which are generally wagers less winning payouts.

The 28 % jump in revenues was mostly due to two new casinos that opened during the year. Existing casinos reported slight revenue growth last week, with those casinos generating us$ 36.4 million in revenues. That was just 1.2 % higher than last year.

But Pennsylvania's take per machine continued to fall. Daily revenues per machine dropped from us$ 293 last year to us$ 263 last week for casinos that were opened last year.
There were 12.5 % more machines this year for casinos opened a year ago.

Mount Airy had a tough last week, as the opening of its new regional competitor Sands Bethlehem continued to show its influence. Mount Airy's revenues fell almost 18 % to us$ 3.1 million last week, with a daily machine average of us$ 175, the lowest in the state. But the casino resort's payout rate, the amount of wagers returned to winners, increased to 91.3 %, the third highest rate in the state.