Pennsylvanian gambling numbers overtake those of Atlantic City for the first time
News on 20 Dec 2011
News on 20 Dec 2011
There was more bad news for the embattled Atlantic City gambling centre this week when neighbouring rival Pennsylvania released its November gambling numbers, for the first time claiming to overtake the New Jersey gambling mecca.
Reporting on the story, the Atlantic City Press revealed that for the month of November, Pennsylvania’s 10 gaming halls pulled in a total of $245.8 million in gross gaming revenue from slot machines and table games, compared to $245.1 million for the 11 Atlantic City casino hotels.
Traditionally, Atlantic City has always been the top revenue producer each month in the region since casino gambling began in Pennsylvania in late 2006.
Pennsylvania’s table games generated $54 million in revenue in November, according to figures released Friday by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. Earlier this month, the gaming board reported that Pennsylvania had $191.8 million in slot machine revenues for November.
While both slot machines and table games were up in November in Pennsylvania, Atlantic City’s revenue continued to decline. Atlantic City’s slot revenue, falling 5 percent to $173.2 million; and table games were down nearly 10 percent to $71.9 million in November, New Jersey Casino Control Commission figures show.
On a year-to-date basis, Atlantic City – the nation’s second-largest casino market behind Nevada – remains ahead of Pennsylvania in total gaming revenue for the first 11 months of 2011.
Some gaming analysts are predicting that Pennsylvania will surpass the slumping Atlantic City gaming industry next year to become the East Coast’s biggest market.
