The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board reported more than $477 million in gaming revenue in January, a 2.7% increase from last year as gains from internet casino slots and sports betting outweighed declines across other gaming disciplines.

Though retail slots paced all categories listed by the PGCB with $179.5 million, that was down 11.2% from January 2023. Overall, Pennsylvania internet casino gaming totaled $149.6 million, a 12.4% increase from 12 months prior, but slot winnings surged 22% to $110 million and offset a 7.9% dip in table games revenue to $36.9 million.

Sportsbook operators had their second-best month in state history with $69.9 million in adjusted gross revenue, which came within $2.6 million of December’s all-time high. It was a 78.1% year-over-year increase totaling more than $30 million.

Table games revenue also took a double-digit decline from the first month of 2023 as the $72.7 million in winnings off the felt was down 13.4%. Video gaming terminal (VGT) revenue slipped 9.2% to $3 million; online poker rake declined 8.2% to $2.7 million; and the $2.5 million in revenue from fantasy sports contests was off 7.4% versus January of last year.

The state collected more than $196.2 million in tax receipts, with $102.4 million coming from brick-and-mortar casinos. Internet casino gaming provided $65.7 million worth of levies — $42.9 million of which went directly to the state — and coffers saw an inflow of $25.2 million from sports betting. The balance came from VGT play and fantasy sports.

Valley Forge skins make inroads vs. Hollywood

Hollywood Casino led all operators with $50.5 million in revenue, but that was down 8.3% compared to the start of 2023. PENN Entertainment-owned online platforms DraftKings, BetMGM, and Fanatics had a 31% drop in table games revenue to $12.8 million, which canceled out a 3.2% rise in slot revenue to $37.3 million.

Valley Forge, which boasts FanDuel and Stardust as its online skins, had year-over-year gains in both disciplines as its $41.6 million in winnings represented a 40.2% increase and narrowed the gap between itself and Hollywood from $25.4 million to $8.9 million. Slot revenue spiked 64.3% to an all-time high of $26.4 million, the third consecutive month of $25 million-plus revenue. Table games revenue was up 11.7% to $15.2 million — a slight decline for the third straight month while remaining above $15 million.

BetRivers took the final podium spot for internet casino revenue with $29.6 million, up 3.8% versus January 2023. That came despite a 3.9% dip in total handle to $918 million as slot winnings ticked almost 6% higher to $25.6 million.

Harrah’s Philadelphia had the largest year-over-year increase in terms of percentage, with revenue more than doubling to $8.4 million. Caesars Palace Casino and Tropicana saw a huge upswing in slot play as the 90.5% increase in drop to $139.9 million contributed to a 124.6% increase in revenue to $5.5 million.

BetPARX also posted strong double-digit growth with $5.4 million in revenue, up 35.7% as both disciplines offered more revenue than 12 months prior. Slot winnings were up 31.8% to $4.5 million, while table games revenue surged 58.4% to nearly $916,000.

Total internet casino handle was $5.82 billion, up 11.8% from January 2023, but Pennsylvania operators failed to reach $6 billion in play for the second consecutive month after December’s record $6.01 billion.

Wind Creek narrows gap for top casino revenue

PARX Casino paced all Pensylvania brick-and-mortar venues with $43.8 million in combined revenue, but it had year-over-year double-digit declines in both table and slot revenue. Because Wind Creek’s table revenue was practically flat compared to 2023, it moved within $3 million of PARX with $40.8 million in winnings for January despite an 11.8% decline in slot revenue to $21 million.

Wind Creek held off Rivers in Pittsburgh for second in slot revenue by just over $700,000 as its $20.3 million represented a 3.9% decline — the softest downturn of the nine venues that posted declines. Live! Casino in Philadelphia bucked that trend with a 2.5% increase to $11.6 million to edge out Hollywood Meadows and round out the top five behind Mohegan Pennsylvania.

Hollywood, though, was the only casino to post a year-over-year gain in table revenue among venues that were open for all of January 2023. Its 61.4% increase amounted to nearly $1 million more in revenue as its $2.6 million haul ranked seventh among the 17 casinos. Live! took the final podium spot for table games revenue with $8.1 million despite a 22.1% decline versus the opening month of last year.

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