Slot games are doing well in Pennsylvania, continuing to improve month after month. The state’s Gaming Control Board recently released the revenue totals for the 12 casinos in operation for the 2018/19 fiscal year, showing that slots increased overall by 1.1%.
Yearly Totals
Of the 12 months for the fiscal year, nine saw an increase in revenues. The total for the fiscal year came in at just over $2.3 billion, which was $26.5 million higher than the 2017/18 reporting period. Tax revenues for the state from this amount came to a whopping $1,237,085,077!
The figures are only from slot games as the table games have yet to released. In the past, it has been table game that provide the most revenues for the state and slots have been lacking. However, for some time, slots have been making a comeback.
The main reason that slot totals are so high for the state are thanks to Valley Forge Casino. The casino saw the highest percentage jump of all when compared to last year, with 11.06%. The casino added 250 new slots in January of this year which helped to push the revenues up. The casino brought in $96,268,435 for the fiscal year.
The top earner for the state was Parx Casino. The venue’s slot games took in just over $416 million which is close to $16 million more than the 2018/17 fiscal year. They enjoyed an increase of 4.03%. In second place was the Wind Creek Bethlehem, the casino formerly known as the Sands Bethlehem. The casino earned just over $295 million. While hitting the second place spot in earnings the casino was actually down from the last fiscal year by just over 2%.
The biggest drops in slot gaming revenues were seen by Lady Luck Casino Nemacolin and the Mohegan Sun Pocono. Lady Luck was down the most at 4.78% with only just over $27 million in earnings. The Mohegan Sun was down just over 4% with $194,507,527 in earnings.
Overall, the casinos are doing quite well when it comes to slot gaming and it will be interesting to see how the table games fare once the totals are released.
Online Gaming
Land-based figures will soon be boosted once the state launches online casino and poker gaming. Players have been patiently waiting since late 2017 to see the state get started with iGaming. A few months ago, we learned that the Gaming Control Board had alerted operators that they needed to be ready to launch by mid-July.
Operators were given 90 days in which to prepare partnerships and sites for operation. While we know licensing has been given for online gaming in the state, just which sites will be ready to launch in just a few days is anyone’s guess. And it still stands to question as to if anyone will be ready to offer gaming in the near future.
A tentative date of July 15th was given by the board as a time frame in which operators would complete a collective launch. Apparently, regulators feel like it’s a good idea for whoever is ready to begin offering services together.
So, I suspect that over the next few days, we should begin to see reports surfacing as to who will be ready to launch. It is an exciting time in the state as players have an anxiously awaiting a time when they could play their favorite games online. Lawmakers in other states also want to see Pennsylvania go live so they can see just how well the industry works in a new state. It has been years since a state in the US has launched online gaming and this just might be the boost states need to get in on the action as well!
