March Table Games Revenue All-Time High in PA

HARRISBURG, Pa., April 17, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On the heels of a record amount of monthly revenue for slot machines during March of this year, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board today announced that revenue for table games that same month was also an all-time high.

With an average of 1,028 tables in operation statewide during March, gross revenue from the play of all table games was $61,864,545. That amount was $7,257,927, or 13.3% higher than in March 2011 when revenue totaled $54,606,617 when an average of 854 tables were operating on a daily basis.

In addition, the March table games total also eclipsed the previous high revenue month of February, 2012 when gross revenue totaled $56,556,939 with 977 tables in operation on a daily basis.

March's successful revenue number pushed total gross table game revenue to over $1 billion since this type of gaming was added to Pennsylvania casinos in July of 2010 resulting in tax revenue to date of $161.4 million.

"Pennsylvania casinos have worked hard to refine the amount and mix of table games to meet their customer bases and maximize revenue," says Board Chairman William H. Ryan, Jr. "With the recent opening of the 11th casino at Valley Forge, I am optimistic that the growth in the table game sector will continue."

March proved to be a very successful month in revenue generation for both table games and slot machines. Recently the Board announced that March slot machine gross revenue of over $233 million had been the highest monthly amount since the opening of Pennsylvania's first casino in November 2006.

Tax revenue from table games to the state (14% of gross revenue) during March was $8,805,208.  Unlike a portion of slot machine tax revenue that is returned to the state to fund property tax reduction (34% of gross slot machine revenue), tax revenue from table games goes exclusively to the Commonwealth's General Fund.

In addition, table games contributed tax revenue to the Local Share Fund (2% of gross table revenue) of $1,237,291 during March. This money is returned to the counties and municipalities that host the casinos, or toward projects specifically designated in the Pennsylvania Race Horse Development and Gaming Act.

The complete month-by-month report for table games revenue has been placed on the Board's web site, www.gamingcontrolboard.pa.gov.

Gross revenue for each of the casinos in March 2012 compared to March 2011 is as follows:

* figures are only for two invite-only test nights and one day of operation to the public

About the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board:
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board was established in 2004 with the passage of Act 71, also known as the Race Horse Development and Gaming Act. Pennsylvania's first new state agency in nearly 40 years, the Gaming Control Board is tasked to oversee all aspects of the state's casino industry. The 11 casinos in operation all offer both slot machine and table game gambling,  employ over 15,000 people, and collectively have generated $6 billion in tax and license fee revenue since the first casino opened in November 2006. A portion of that money is enabling property tax reduction for all Pennsylvania homeowners; providing needed funding to the Commonwealth's horse racing industry, fire companies, water/sewer projects, and the state's General Fund; and, establishing a new stream of tax revenue to local governments for community projects. A wealth of information about the Gaming Control Board and Pennsylvania's gaming industry can be found at www.gamingcontrolboard.pa.gov. At this website, visitors can view videos of Board meetings and on the operation of the PGCB, obtain information on identifying a gambling problem and gaining assistance, look up future meeting schedules and past meeting transcripts, access an interactive map of casino locations, request a speaker for their group, along with much more information.  Please also choose to follow the agency on Twitter by choosing @PAGamingControl.

 CONTACT: Doug Harbach or Richard McGarvey (717) 346-8321

SOURCE Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board