Valley Forge Casino Resort, while in the midst of a media hailstorm with dealer criminal charges, appreciated the largest table games revenue gains in January, up almost 46 percent from January 2017.
Overall casino gaming revenue was down 1.6 percent, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board reported. Overall total gaming revenue slumped from $252.9 million last year to $248.8 million this year.
Gross table games revenue was also down almost 2.2 percent, to $71, 032,273 in 2018, compared to $72,610,202 in the first month of 2017.
While the state generated $11,421,189 in tax revenue from table games, the average number of tables operating on a daily basis hung at 1,267 from the 12 Pennsylvania casinos.
The table games revenue was coupled with a 1.4 percent drop in slots revenue in January.
The PA crowdpleasers
Valley Forge, up 45.80 percent, moved from $2.5 to almost $3.7 million in January 2018 for table games revenue.
Valley Forge did report better numbers in December 2017, supposedly from new gambling laws. The casino paid to eliminate a resort fee to customers. The casino presumed that the $10 amenity fee would increase traffic to the property.
As a whole, the casino experienced an uptick of almost 14 percent in revenue, moving from $9.15 million to $13.92 million in revenue from one year span in January.
Others also experienced gains in table games revenue.
- Rivers Casino – up 13.39 percent in table games revenue ($5,820,242)
- Harrah’s Philadelphia – up 7.38 percent in table games revenue ($5,513,122)
- Presque Isle Downs and Casino – up 4.88 percent in table games revenue ($1,212,307)
Eight casinos down in table games revenue
The lowest of the low this month was The Meadows Casino with a 42.33 percent decrease in table games revenue when compared with 2017.
None followed that decrease closely behind.
- Mohegan Sun Pocono – down 15.30% ($3,149,599)
- Parx Casino – decrease 9.84% ($14,638,273)
- Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course – drop of 7.26% ($2,912,561)
- Lady Luck Casino Nemacolin – down 4.34% ($357,836)
- SugarHouse Casino – down 1.56% ($10,827,635)
- Mount Airy Casino Resort – decrease of 1.01% ($3,266,639)
- Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem – down 0.71% ($18,125,762)
These losses were accompanied by equally unfortunate losses in total gaming revenue, ranging from almost 0.15 percent to as high as 15 percent.
Monthly decreases across the board
The following table shows the distinction in total gaming revenue across the 12 casinos, even if relatively minor overall.
| Casino | January 1, 2018 | January 1, 2017 | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Gaming Revenue | Total Gaming Revenue | ||
| Parx Casino | $45,598,476 | $46,532,228 | -2.01 |
| Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem | $41,130,613 | $42,077,417 | -2.25 |
| Rivers Casino | $26,899,215 | $26,636,977 | 0.98 |
| SugarHouse Casino | $24,715,523 | $24,892,405 | -0.71 |
| Harrah's Philadelphia | $21,249,243 | $20,429,202 | 4.01 |
| Mohegan Sun Pocono | $18,736,824 | $19,849,840 | -5.61 |
| Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course | $18,286,779 | $19,069,910 | -4.11 |
| The Meadows Casino | $16,372,497 | $19,088,024 | -14.23 |
| Mount Airy Casino Resort | $13,916,469 | $13,935,761 | -0.14 |
| Valley Forge Casino Resort | $10,419,955 | $9,147,869 | 13.91 |
| Presque Isle Downs and Casino | $9,109,070 | $8,807,940 | 3.42 |
| Lady Luck Casino Nemacolin | $2,392,736 | $2,447,298 | -2.23 |
| Statewide Total | $248,827,400 | $252,914,872 | -1.62 |
More on the horizon?
These decreases may not be around for long though. With casino promos to bring the holiday cheer back, these casinos may celebrate with its own patrons.
Parx Casino is opening a new poker room for its next Big Stax. Mount Airy just won a mini casino bid.
The question of saturation still sits in the forefront, but even so, the slot machine revenue could inch up in the future with the satellite casino project auctions still underway.
