Casino slot revenue
New casino sites to play real money
We continue to see growth within the brick-and-mortar casinos and some of that has to do with bringing in new customers for types of gambling specifically sports wagering in almost all the casinos. We’ve seen a continued ramp-up of the numbers over the past few years. There continues to be a build up of the customer base at brick-and-mortar casinos and I think with the interjection of online games it’s spurring more individuals to participate in whatever form of gambling they like, whether it’s online or at the casinos.Growth is certainly good. It also flies in the face of the notion that expanded gambling would eat into existing casino revenue streams.
PA casino revenue up 4.5% in 2019, thanks largely to sports betting and online gambling
With official december gaming revenue numbers for PA due out later this week, one key number has been released. Officials at wednesday’s pennsylvania gaming control board (PGCB) meeting shared the unofficial number of $3.27 billion for total brick and mortar slot and table game revenue for 2019.
Initial reports stated that this number also included revenue from new forms of gaming, like online casinos and sports betting. However, this number only accounts for slots and table games.
Growth is certainly good. It also flies in the face of the notion that expanded gambling would eat into existing casino revenue streams.
The overall revenue numbers for PA casinos are even more promising. Thanks to the launch of online casino and retail and online sports betting, casinos took in $3.41 billion. That is a bump of almost 4.5% from 2018.
PA brick and mortar gaming not cannibalized in 2019
With the addition of so many verticals and operators to PA online gambling in 2019, an increase in revenues was mostly a given. The real question was by how much would they beat the previous year’s totals.
In 2018, gross slots revenue came out to $2.37 billion while gross table games revenue was $878.8 million. Pennsylvania sports betting launched in november of 2018 and brought in $ 2.5 million in revenue during its first two months. Combined, GGR for 2018 was $3.25 billion.
All told, there was a $16 million bump in overall revenues from 2018 to 2019, looking at slots, table games and the start of retail sports betting.
Looking at revenue change over the five years prior to 2019, the increase from 2018-19 seems on par. While it is only a one-year sample size, it seems to indicate that these new markets are not growing at the expense of existing casinos.
| Year | gross slot revenue | gross table games revenue | gross total gaming revenue | change from previous year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | $2,319,534,380 | $749,543,217 | $3,069,077,597 | -$44,850,993 |
| 2015 | $2,365,651,659 | $808,137,112 | $3,173,788,771 | $104,711,174 |
| 2016 | $2,360,184,122 | $853,238,055 | $3,213,422,177 | $39,633,406 |
| 2017 | $2,336,212,902 | $890,697,914 | $3,226,910,816 | $13,488,639 |
| 2018 | $2,369,885,203 | $878,796,174 | $3,248,681,377 | $21,770,561 |
New gambling markets led to big market boost
A lot happened in terms of growing PA’s gambling industry in 2019. Sports betting growth exploded with the addition of PA online betting apps beginning in may. The addition of online casinos in july also added to the state’s gaming revenue flows.
For 2019, PA sports betting revenue came in at $84 million. Total handle trailed only new jersey and nevada, with $1.49 billion in bets.
Online casinos contributed as well, but not at the same scale of sports betting. Between slots, table games, and the newly launched online poker, the sites produced $33.6 million in revenue.
Combined, that means, of the $3.4 billion in casino revenue, 3% (roughly $117 million) came from expanded gaming. That does not include revenue generated by non-casino products like video gambling terminals and daily fantasy sports. Those took in $2.3 million and $25.9 million, respectively.
PA gaming industry happy with growth
For PGCB director of communications doug harbach, the steady overall growth PA gaming has experienced in recent years is a good sign. Harbach told play pennsylvania:
We continue to see growth within the brick-and-mortar casinos and some of that has to do with bringing in new customers for types of gambling specifically sports wagering in almost all the casinos. We’ve seen a continued ramp-up of the numbers over the past few years. There continues to be a build up of the customer base at brick-and-mortar casinos and I think with the interjection of online games it’s spurring more individuals to participate in whatever form of gambling they like, whether it’s online or at the casinos.
The growing number of gambling options in the state should continue to drive increased revenues. The complete numbers, once available, should give a more clear picture of the breakdown.
Amid revenue dip, new england casinos brace for more competition
There weren’t a lot of showers in april, but that didn’t stop the month from raining on the new england casino industry’s parade.
After a terrific march, revenues dipped quite a bit in april. The month-over-month drop-off isn’t unexpected (due to seasonality), but the sharpness of it was.
In 2018, plainridge park saw revenue fall by $1.2 million from march to april. In 2019 the revenue drop increased to nearly $1.9 million.
The drops at foxwoods and mohegan sun were also more pronounced in 2019. Foxwoods saw its slot revenue decline from march to april by $2.4 million in 2018. That number increased to $3.9 million in 2019. Likewise, mohegan’s slot revenue fell by $3.5 million in 2018 and $5.9 million in 2019.
And because these are M/M comparisons, the falloff cannot be laid at the feet of MGM springfield. Something else was afoot.
A closer look at april slot revenue
New england slot revenue april 2019:
- Mohegan sun casino – CT: $45,218,401
- Foxwoods casino – CT: $36,199,094
- Twin river lincoln – RI: $35,578,213
- MGM springfield – MA: $15,472,211
- Plainridge park casino – MA: $14,062,059
- Twin river tiverton – RI: $8,624,023
- Oxford casino – ME: $6,613,678
- Hollywood casino – ME: $3,499,537
Here’s how each facility stacks up:
| # slot machines | average RTP | |
|---|---|---|
| MGM springfield | 2,550 | 92% |
| plainridge park | 1,200 | 92% |
| foxwoods | 4,100 | 92% |
| mohegan sun | 4,800 | 92% |
| twin river lincoln | 4,200 | 92% |
| twin river tiverton | 1,000 | 92% |
| oxford casino | 950 | 90% |
| hollywood casino | 725 | 90% |
A closer look at april table game revenue
Table game revenue april 2019:
- Twin river lincoln – RI: $11,531,400
- MGM springfield – MA: $6,345,874
- Twin river tiverton – RI: $2,050,179
- Oxford casino – ME: $1,415,191
- Hollywood casino – ME: $720,564
*neither foxwoods or mohegan sun report table game revenue to the state of connecticut.
Here’s how each facility stacks up:
| # table games | # of poker tables | |
|---|---|---|
| MGM springfield | 120 | 23 |
| plainridge park | N/A | N/A |
| foxwoods | 250 | 100 |
| mohegan sun | 300 | 42 |
| twin river lincoln | 93 +48 stadium games | 23 |
| twin river tiverton | 32+18 stadium games | N/A |
| hollywood casino | 18 | 4 |
| oxford casino | 28 | N/A |
Regional new england news roundup
Encore boston harbor update
Things are about to get really interesting in massachusetts.
The opening of the $2.6 billion encore boston harbor is now just weeks away. You heard that right–the property will open on june 23, as planned.
While its impact on the region’s existing casinos has been noticeable, MGM springfield wasn’t the disruptive force many thought it would be.
However, at more than double the price, and with a far better location, it’s anyone’s guess what impact encore boston harbor will have on the existing casinos when it opens its doors.
Some of the other big stories surrounding the property are:
- The $35 million fine and criticisms of CEO matt maddox
- Where will employees park and the cost to park on-site
- The exorbitant room rates to stay at the property’s hotel.
You can find an in-depth preview of the entire property here.
New hampshire lottery prevails in wire act case
The new hampshire lottery scored a resounding victory for supporters of legal online gambling everywhere.
In his opinion, new hampshire district court judge paul barbadoro didn’t just rule in favor of the NH lottery over the department of justice, he eviscerated the DOJ’s recent re-revision of the wire act. At several points, the judge refers to the DOJ’s stance as incoherent and bizarre.
The final statement sums up the 60-page decision nicely:
“I hereby declare that § 1084(a) of the wire act, 18 U.S.C.§ 1084(a), applies only to transmissions related to bets or wagers on a sporting event or contest. The 2018 OLC opinion is set aside.
State-by-state casino revenue breakdown
Massachusetts
April was an ok month for massachusetts’ two casinos. Even with the M/M drop, april was the second best month of the year for MGM springfield and plainridge park.
Connecticut
Faced with new competition in massachusetts and rhode island, connecticut‘s tribal casinos have performed admirably. Y/Y revenue is declining, but thus far the two properties are holding their own better than anyone expected.
Rhode island
Twin river‘s two rhode island locations have been the region’s unbridled success stories over the last year or so.
Investment (relocating to tiverton and adding a hotel to the flagship lincoln casino) and gaming expansions (sports betting and soon online sports betting) have left the twin river casinos largely unaffected by expansion in the region.
Maine
Considered “locals” casinos, maine’s two casino properties are far enough north to avoid the direct competition in the increasingly crowded southern new england casino market.
The two maine casinos had the best M/M comps of any state in the region, with revenue ticking down ever so slightly at both properties.
Slot hold vs. Slot revenue
Making sense of the slot hold debate
There have been many articles published in recent months, and indeed over the last several years, about slot hold, with many at least partially attributing the industry’s woes to rising hold.
“hold” is the expected amount of each wager that the slot machine “holds” over time. A slot machine with 5 percent hold is expected to produce $5 revenue for the casino for every $100 in wagers. The same machine may be described as having 95 percent “RTP” or return-to-player.
Over the past two decades, we’ve seen average slot holds rise considerably, largely due to the proliferation of higher-hold penny video slots. See nevada’s hold, for example, in the figure below.
To contextualize this increase, betting $1 per spin at eight spins per minute, a $100 budget would last on average 249 minutes at the 5.02 percent hold we saw in 1993, but only 187 minutes at the 6.7 percent hold we saw in 2018. If we were instead to look at the effect of moving from 9 percent hold to 10.68 percent hold (the same 1.68-point increase, more indicative of penny slot hold), time on device for that $100 budget would decrease on average from 138.9 minutes to 117 minutes, a decline of more than 15 percent or nearly 22 minutes of play.
Increased hold is decreasing the average time of slot sessions. This isn’t a controversial viewpoint; it’s just math—if the machine holds more per spin, players with a fixed budget necessarily spend less time on machines.
These views may seem irreconcilable, and intuitively, how could players not feel a decrease of 20 minutes on device? This article is intended to bring together these views. I’ve spent a lot of time studying these questions with slot operators, finance teams, economists, and data scientists, and as such, have a unique perspective on the problem.
Players can’t feel hold changes
Anthony lucas, a professor at the university of nevada, las vegas, has published several articles with various co-authors on how players can’t “feel” the effects of a hold change. The evidence has been several-fold, with the most compelling arguments being that:
- A computer (let alone a human) can’t accurately distinguish between two different return-to-player (RTP) settings in a number of observations that mimic a human slot session on a reel machine; and,
- Lucas and his co-authors have run a number of live experiments in casinos with side-by-side machines of the same theme, one with low hold and one with high hold, and observed empirically that the high-hold machines perform better financially.
Both of these findings are sound. That is, in nearly all cases, a player cannot accurately tell the difference if a machine’s hold is changed, sometimes even dramatically. Though, I should note there are several ways of going from hold A to hold B, and some of these may be easier for players to “feel” than others. We’ll discuss why hold changes are not all created equal later on.
In the cases studied, using variants of actual paytables from reel slot machines, lucas and co-author A.K. Singh argue (correctly) that players can’t possibly tell the difference between hold settings, because even computers cannot tell the difference with any degree of certainty across 500 spins (representing approximately an hour of continuous slot play) or even across longer sessions. Certainly, players may guess, as can computers, but they are wrong nearly as often as they are right.
Players can’t “feel” the time decrease because slot machine outcomes are volatile. As a wise man once said, “you never know what you’re gonna get.”
This effect is born out on slot floors, as described in lucas’ recent work with kate spilde, where they measure the performance of high-hold and low-hold versions of the same slot machines placed next to each other on the floor, finding that the high-hold machines outperform the low-hold machines empirically.
My own experiences echo these results. In nearly every example I’ve ever seen—including the dozens of tests I’ve run with slot teams on real, live casino floors—the higher-hold machine of a pair of like machines generates higher win than the lower-hold machine. That is, slot patrons don’t shift their play to the lower-hold device. Players truly can’t feel hold changes.
How can player behavior be impacted if a player can’t feel hold changes?
It would be easy to conclude, as lucas does in several of his articles, that casinos can perhaps increase their revenues by increasing slot hold. But upon reflection this is far from clear.
First, the side-by-side machine comparison fails to ask about the rest of the slot floor, about the rest of the player’s wallet. Is the increased financial performance of the high-hold machine simply displaced win from the rest of the floor? Or, asked differently, do the players that lose less on the lower-hold machine exhibit increased play elsewhere on the floor? In other words, do players generally lose the same amount on the visit, but those experiencing lower hold just lose slower and on more machines, getting more time in the casino?
Second, even if we were able to measure the overall wallet impact of experiencing lower or higher hold on a single visit, how does this experience impact likelihood to return, or frequency of visitation? Is it possible that a lower-hold experience today means that a player will return to the casino sooner, producing the same amount of revenue or more over more visits?
As an extreme thought experiment, consider that a machine that holds 100 percent—never returning a dime to a player—will perform financially better in the short term, for some definition of “short term.” but as a player, if you walked into a casino with $100 and lost on every spin of your machine, would you consider yourself unlucky on that trip? Would you hesitate before returning? How would you feel if it happened again on your next trip?
This thought experiment—even if 100 percent hold is extreme—provides a useful way of thinking about how players can be impacted by hold changes even if they don’t know that the hold is higher. Players don’t experience theoretical hold. Players experience the random sequence of outcomes that the machine produces in the short amount of time that they play on the machine. They experience “did I have a good time while I was at the casino?”
This question will have different criteria for different players: how long did my budget last me? Did I get to experience fun bonus games on the machine? Did I have positive staff interactions? Was my restaurant or valet experience good? And the answer to “did I have a good time while I was at the casino?” influences player behavior related to return trips: will the player return, and how soon?
A player who has a bad session at low theoretical hold has the same negative experience as a player who has a bad session at high theoretical hold. Tying this all together, increased hold leads to a higher proportion of players experiencing losing sessions, short sessions, and therefore, overall negative experiences.
We know that actual loss correlates to overall experience, and you can validate this with your own guest survey results. Players who have “winning experiences” as measured by the duration of play that their budget allows or as measured by the experience of low actual hold (including those who win on the trip) tend to report better satisfaction with staff interactions, beverage service, and several other areas of guest experience. And we all believe that experience matters in choosing whether entertainment budget should be spent at a casino, and furthermore when choosing which casino to visit.
By increasing theoretical hold, even if any individual player can’t tell that we’ve done so, we increase the number of players whose random sequence of slot outcomes leads them to have poor overall experiences at the casino, and this can have downstream effects in terms of visitation and spend.
So, what’s an operator to do?
It’s important to stress that I don’t think there’s a one-size-fits-all solution to hold changes. For large commercial properties on the las vegas strip, where revenue is shifting rapidly to non-gaming predominance, where casual visitors to las vegas have small gambling budgets relative to their overall vacation budgets, where the overall trip experience has many components beyond their experience on the casino floor, and where the time between trips is lengthy, it may make sense to push hold high and capture the tourist gambling dollar before the competitor down the street can capture it.
Next year, when planning their annual las vegas trip, the thought of how quickly their $100 budget was captured by the slots will be dwarfed by their pool, dining, nightclub and hotel experiences, and by the “sin” in sin city.
In regional markets, by contrast, casinos may have large segments of patrons visiting upwards of 30 or 40 days per year. Gambling is the main concern at these properties, and markets are quite competitive, with many having four or more easily accessible casinos, not to mention the regional or national destination markets—las vegas, atlantic city, biloxi, and so on—that are also competing heavily for these guests. Here, hold is a more subtle concern.
Casinos in these markets must carefully assess the impact that hold has on their businesses, but understanding the tradeoff between short-term financial gain (take the money quickly) and long-term business stability (do we alienate our guests and cause them to reduce or cease visitation?) is not an easy task. In contrast to the las vegas market, the gambling experience at regional casinos by-and-large is the customer experience, so operators should approach the gambling experience with caution.
Macro considerations for a slot hold strategy
In assessing the impact of a changing slot hold strategy, we must understand the balance between guests who are time-constrained, those who will leave the casino before they’ve exhausted their gambling budget, and guests who are wallet-constrained, those who will exhaust their monetary budget before they exhaust their allotment of time. If a guest is time-constrained, a reduction in slot hold will reduce the rate at which they lose (on average), and the casino will capture less of their gaming budget on their (fixed-length) trip. In order to make this decision profitable, the casino would need to increase the visitation of those guests to compensate for the reduced revenue.
If a guest is wallet-constrained, however, a reduction in slot hold will simply increase the time that the guest’s budget lasts, providing more time in the casino and more positive experiences, i.E., more “bang for their buck.” of course, if we increase the duration of the guest’s wallet too much, the guest may become time-constrained, and we run the risk of losing the guest’s available budget. It seems natural to argue that a perfect balance would be struck if we could have each guest expend their monetary and time budgets simultaneously.
Quantifying time-constrained versus wallet-constrained guests is difficult to do scientifically. But as an example of this thinking, in a market like biloxi—where many patrons are lodgers and as such are a relatively captive audience—guests are likely more wallet-constrained than time-constrained, and a lower slot hold environment may increase player satisfaction (and ultimately visitation, etc.) while effecting a very limited impact on gaming spend.
And besides making the casino experience more fun, which we would hope leads to increased visitation, the limited revenue loss from the gaming floor on that visit may be recuperated by retail and dining outlets, albeit at a different margin.
My own experience in the louisiana and mississippi markets suggests that biloxi casinos tend to provide richer-than-typical free-play offers. Increased free play and reduced slot hold have a similar effect, increasing time on device, which is low cost to the casino so long as the patrons are wallet-constrained and not time-constrained.
Of course, many of these arguments can be applied to las vegas as well, but las vegas visitors are more time-constrained than one might imagine. The allure of other amenities, or even other casino properties, limits the amount of vacation time allocated to gambling in any one location. And with the proliferation of regional gaming, this makes sense. Most visitors come to las vegas for the party, for the pools, for the weather, for the food. The gambling is a nice-to-have, as opposed to biloxi, where the gambling may be a primary focus of the visit.
Additional considerations when developing an overall hold strategy for a property may include:
- The floor’s utilization: higher utilization suggests a higher hold strategy, as reduction of time on device can alleviate any periods of prohibitive utilization, which itself degrades the guest experience.
- The quality and diversity of a property’s amenity set: the more opportunities a property has to provide great experiences to a guest suggests a higher hold strategy, as the slot experience may contribute less to the overall guest experience.
- The frequency of visitation of the patron database: higher-frequency properties might consider a lower-hold approach, since there is a high dependence on return visitation.
- The competitiveness of the local market: properties in highly competitive markets might consider a lower-hold approach as a way to improve guest experience.
Micro considerations for a slot hold strategy
I mentioned before that moving from one hold to another isn’t a universal concept. That is because there are many ways to change a pay table. As an example, consider the following simple mock game:
Now let’s say our aim is to increase the hold to 13 percent. One way to do this is to decrease the frequency of the bonus game to 1 in 50:
Could a player “feel” this difference? How quickly? At eight spins per minute, this represents a loss of approximately 2.4 bonus games per hour. This is a question we can answer with science, but keeping this concept in mind, consider this alternative version of the simple game that also achieves 13 percent hold:
In this variation, we’ve returned the bonus game to a 1-in-40 proposition but reduced the frequency of the top award to 1-in-220,000. This pay table should provide identical game play as the 7.5 percent pay table, to nearly everyone who plays the game. No one will be able to detect with any certainty that the top award has become less frequent, as no one expects to hit the top award anyway. Given the option, we would certainly put the “fewer jackpots” version on the floor before the “fewer bonus games” version.
In other words, there are ways to raise hold without impacting the player experience, and there are ways to raise hold while lowering the occurrence of relatively frequent events that the player celebrates. To the extent that we can accomplish the former, we should do so enthusiastically. With the latter, we should proceed cautiously.
Only a careful review of PAR sheets, which detail pay tables and frequencies of game awards, can give a clear indication of how hold changes will affect player experience, and these can be cumbersome (I’ll say, politely) to read and interpret. A broad-based hold increase without regard to how hold is increased will certainly affect player experience.
An ideal hold strategy would be designed at the game level. Operators and manufacturers would work together on how to provide the best player experience while achieving operator financial goals.
Another consideration pointed out to me by savvy slot operators is the speed of the processors in newer games. They keenly note that players don’t necessarily experience hold as a percentage of slot handle, but rather as a loss-per-hour. We are seeing max bets and cost-to-cover on penny games increase, processor speeds producing more spins per hour, and holds rising, resulting in even more substantial increases in loss per hour.
Conclusion
I’ve worked with several properties on their slot hold strategy as an operator and as a consultant. While there is no one overarching method for measuring the impact of slot changes, I’ve been fortunate in my roles to work with talented teams of slot operators, economists, statisticians and data scientists to develop methodologies to evaluate the performance of slot hold changes.
We’ve developed benchmarks and metrics to look at player behavior, machine performance, and overall property performance, each providing a different lens into the effects of these changes. With forward-thinking operations teams, we’ve run tests as aggressive as altering the hold on more than 30 percent (!) of the machines on a casino floor. As expected, higher hold approaches have produced more revenue on average in the short term, though at a mildly diminishing rate.
Most of the studies were run for only six to 12 months, so I don’t know if in two, three, five or 10 years we’d conclude that a lower hold strategy would produce the loyalty and guest experience effects needed to outweigh the short-term effects of raising hold. Or whether we’d find in the end that cranking up the hold produces stronger financial outcomes across the board.
Casinos continue to navigate the tradeoffs of immediate gains at the risk of degrading guest experience in many areas—resort fees in hotels, outlet fees in bars, ATM fees approaching $10, and even parking fees. Regardless of the enterprise’s overall strategy, taking a tactical, property-specific and game-specific approach can help achieve the desired short-term financial outcomes while managing the guest experience impacts and mitigating some of the potential long-term effects on the business.
Record 2018 PA casino revenues A precursor for big returns in 2019
For pennsylvania’s casinos, slot machines helped fuel record revenue earnings in 2018. According to statistics released this month by the pennsylvania gaming control board (PGCB), the slot machines and table games in pennsylvania casinos produced a record gross revenue total of $3,248,681,377. That is the highest total ever in the industry’s 13 years of operation.
“we continue to see slots and table games produce significant revenue in this state,” doug harbach, a spokesperson for PGCB, told harrisburg CBS affiliate WHP. “we’re no. 2 in the united states in casino revenue, no. 1 in tax revenue. Legal gaming in pennsylvania, from a financial standpoint, has been very, very successful.”
Slot machines made more, but overall revenues varied widely
While overall, slot machine revenue grew 1.8 percent in 2018, the results of individual casinos varied widely. Half of pennsylvania’s casinos recorded increased slot machine revenue in 2018.
The big winner was valley forge casino resort, which witnessed a slot machine revenue growth of more than 10 percent, boosting earnings from roughly $82 million to $91 million. Rivers casino in pittsburgh and parx casino in philadelphia also experienced healthy slot machine growth, recording increased slot machine revenues of more than 4 percent.
According to the pittsburgh post-gazette, “the 2018 figures reflect how slot machines continue to be the dominant driver of patrons and finances for casinos, representing 73 percent of gambling revenue.”
However, in some locations, even slot machine revenue dipped in 2018. Lady luck casino at nemacolin saw a gross slot machine revenue loss of greater than six percent from roughly $30 million to about $28 million. In addition, mohegan sun pocono casino, had slot machine revenues dip more than 2 percent from about $204 million to $198 million.
Overall, slot machines brought in $2.37 billion for pennsylvania casinos last year compared with $878.8 million from table games.
Table game revenue declined overall
Despite overall growth for slot machine revenues, table game returns dropped in 2018. Table game earnings in pennsylvania casinos went from $890,697,914 in 2017 to $878,796,174 in 2018, a decline of 1.34 percent. In general, table game returns were extremely volatile in 2018 as some casinos encountered significant setbacks, while others posted solid gains.
The casinos experiencing the biggest declines in terms of table game returns included:
However, other casinos posted more impressive returns. Rivers casino grew its table game gross revenues more than 15 percent from $65,796,858 to $76,043,050 and valley forge casino resort gained nearly 11 percent on table games from $34,419,700 to $34,419,700.
Big money could arrive in 2019
Overall, the total returns posted by pennsylvania’s casinos in 2018 were mixed. But the fact that total gaming revenue generated by slot machines and table games reached a record number in 2018 is significant. With sportsbooks and online casinos likely to make significant impacts this year, the revenue generated by casinos in 2019 could grow substantially.
And the biggest jackpots are likely yet to come.
PA casinos’ slot machine revenue slide ends at 11 months
For the second consecutive month, table game revenue grew by double digits. After 11 percent growth in august, september saw a 10-percent spike.
More importantly, slot revenue rose for the first time in 12 months. Overall, the industry underwent nearly four percent growth for the month.
Top line numbers for september 2017
Here’s a look at the top line september numbers:
- Slot machine revenue: $195,396,966.03 (+1.69 percent)
- Table game revenue: $75,609,372 (+9.92 percent)
- Total gaming revenue: $271,006,338 (+3.86 percent)
12-month slot revenue trend
As mentioned, september saw pennsylvania’s 11-month run of declining slot revenue come to an end. The question now is this: is september an outlier, or is this the start of a new trend for pennsylvania’s casinos? It may be the latter, considering slot revenue was only down 0.39 percent in august.
- October 2016 slot machine revenue: $191,850,596.41 (-3.04 percent)
- November 2016 slot machine revenue: $179,399,603.94 (-4.34 percent)
- December 2016 slot machine revenue: $185,349,872.22 (-6.17 percent)
- January 2017 slot machine revenue: $180,304,669.91 (-2.44 percent)
- February 2017 slot machine revenue: $192,268,470 (-3.95 percent*)
- March 2017 slot machine revenue: $209,984,146.94 (-0.6 percent)
- April 2017 slot machine revenue: $205,702,752.11 (-1.58 percent)
- May 2017 slot machine revenue: $203,248,175.70 (-2.68 percent)
- June 2017 slot machine revenue: $188,520,750 (-0.77 percent)
- July 2017 slot machine revenue: $209,124,965.58 (-2.01 percent)
- August 2017 slot machine revenue: $193,190,477.69 (-0.39 percent)
- September 2017 slot machine revenue: $195,396,966.03 (+1.69 percent)
*accounting for the leap year in 2016, the normalized numbers in february have slot revenue down just 0.5 percent yoy.
A look at who won and who lost in september
Because of the strong industry-wide numbers, it should come as no surprise that ten of pennsylvania’s 12 casinos posted yoy revenue increases in september.
Somewhat surprisingly, not a single casino posted a yoy gain of more than 8.69 percent.
For the third consecutive month, mount airy led the way:
- Mount airy casino resort: 8.69%
- Rivers casino: 8.02%
- Sands casino resort bethlehem: 7.56%
- Lady luck casino nemacolin: 6.56%
- Valley forge casino resort: 5.03%
- Sugarhouse casino: 3.52%
- Parx casino: 3.36%
- Harrah’s philadelphia: 3.10%
- Hollywood casino at penn national race course: 3.16%
- The meadows casino: 0.65%
Only two pennsylvania casinos saw total gaming revenue fall in september:
- Presque isle downs and casino: -3.37%
- Mohegan sun pocono: -3.56%
Casino by casino analysis for july 2017
Parx casino
Parx lost its monthly battle with sands, a battle it’s been dominating for more than a year. It passed the title of the top revenue-generating casino in pennsylvania to its rival, but only by the slimmest of margins.
That margin, $58,850, is just 0.1 percent of parx’s total september revenue.
Sands bethlehem
As noted above, sands reclaimed the top spot from parx in september on the back of a terrific month at the casino’s copious table games.
Sands’ table game revenue is approaching its slot revenue totals.
Rivers casino
Rivers had the second-best month of any pennsylvania casino, with total casino revenue growing by more than eight percent.
Sugarhouse casino
Sugarhouse has cemented itself as the clear no. 4 casino in the pennsylvania market, behind frontrunners parx and sands, and third-place casino rivers. (rivers is sugarhouse’s sister casino, both owned by rush street gaming.)
Continued gains on the table game side of the ledger have allowed the philadelphia-based casino to separate itself from a tightly bunched group comprising harrah’s, mohegan sun, hollywood casino, and meadows.
Harrah’s philadelphia
Harrah’s offset a slight decline in slot revenue with strong gains at its tables in september.
Hollywood casino at penn national
After some lackluster months, hollywood righted the ship in september. Strong slot revenue more than offset its drop in table game revenue. The end result was a three percent increase in total gaming revenue.
The meadows casino
Over the past four months, meadows’ table game revenue has grown by 20 percent, 40 percent, 117 percent, and 20 percent.
Once heavily reliant on slot handle, meadows is starting to morph into something of a dual threat in the market.
Mohegan sun at pocono downs
Mohegan’s slot revenue was down nearly 6.5 percent in september.
Not even double-digit growth from its table games could overcome the slot decline and keep the casino out of the red. For the month, total casino revenue was down 3.5 percent.
Mount airy casino resort
For the third consecutive month, mount airy led the way in year-over-year growth.
Mount airy is now nipping on the heels of the mid-pack casinos mentioned above: meadows, harrah’s, mohegan sun and hollywood.
Presque isle downs and casino
Presque isle was one of two casinos to post year-over-year losses for the month. But unlike mohegan sun, where declining slot revenue was the culprit, it was a near 30 percent drop in table game revenue that did in presque isle.
Valley forge casino resort
It was a good month for valley forge, as the category 3 casino posted solid gains on both fronts.
Lady luck casino nemacolin
The state’s smallest casino posted some really big gains in september.
A 42 percent increase in table game revenue boosted lady luck’s bottom line by more than 6.5 percent.
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- Top selected casino companies worldwide in 2018, by revenue
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- U.S. Gambling market: total revenue 2004-2018
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- Casino gaming revenue in nevada 2010-2019
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- Share of visitors who gambled in las vegas in the U.S. 2009-2018
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- Number of casino games in nevada 1965-2018
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- Number of slot machines and other mobile gaming devices in casinos nevada 1965-2018
- Number of gaming licenses in nevada 1965-2018
- Sports betting: distribution of voice leaders U.S. 2019
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- Amount wagered on the super bowl in sports books in nevada 2004-2020
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- Distribution of sports bettors' gambling expenditure in australia 2015 by activity
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Hollywood casino leads pennsylvania online slots revenue
Sugarhouse is still holding the lead in overall revenue brought in the two-and-a-half months of legal online gambling in pennsylvania. However, things are bound to change once the imminent online poker segment gets its introduction, boosting the industry even more.
News highlights
- Pennsylvania online casinos generated the most revenue since the industry opening.
- Hollywood casino online slots brought in $1.6 million in september revenue.
- Sugarhouse still in the lead after the launch of legal online gambling.
Record-breaking hollywood casino online slots revenue
The hollywood casino, one of three legal online casino operators in pennsylvania, managed to rake in the most revenue for their online slot games. As the latest records from the pennsylvania gaming control board indicate, it brought in a total of $1,631,130 in september.
The remaining two casinos – parx and sugarhouse – only reached $1.6 million combined. They contributed with 24% and 26% of the total slot revenue – $3.2 million.
The winning factor
Hollywood’s figures mark the most revenue collected by a single operator since the igaming market opened. This is just as significant as last month’s revenue – $2.5 million, showing the industry’s regular progress per month. Many find the reasons for it in the increased casino game selection, although their iphone casino app release has a stake in all that, being the only ios-compatible casino app in the state so far.
Table games holding steady
Stagnant profits from the table game vertical across all three pennsylvania online casinos have been recorded in both august and september. The total amounts to $900k, with parx casino taking the greater part of it.
- Parx brought in about $506k, the equivalent of 56% of the market for the last month.
- Hollywood and sugarhouse brought in much lower revenues – $166k and $229k, respectively.
A drop in pennsylvania’s top casino’s numbers
Sugarhouse seems to be going through a dry spell, with only $228,611 gross table game revenue in september, as opposed to august – $285,841. Slot revenue is going down as well, from a high $1.3 million in august to $840,072 in september. However, it all seems to be for the right reasons, as up to five players landed the progressive jackpot at the divine fortune online slot game.
Online casino september revenue
When online gambling launched in pennsylvania, sugarhouse got off to an excellent start. Thanks to that, it is still holding onto the lead position of the chart for overall interactive gambling revenue per state. The following table shows how the three casino sites performed in september.
| Online casino | slots revenue | table game revenue | total revenue |
|---|---|---|---|
| hollywood casino | $1,631,130 | $165,890 | $1,797,020 |
| parx casino | $763,911 | $505,744 | $1,269,655 |
| sugarhouse | $840,072 | $228,611 | $1,068,683 |
What’s to come for pennsylvania online poker?
With slot numbers shooting up in september, the third igaming vertical legalized across the pennsylvania online gambling market seems all but forgotten. However, the situation is a bit more complex than it seems, with further holdups in the pokerstars launch expected closer into the year’s end.
Ever since it fell behind on its initial launch date in july, online poker action has been kept out of enthusiasts’ reach. With other online gaming verticals also regulated for the market – sports betting, online lottery, and daily fantasy – there is reason to believe that it should come full circle soon enough.
Related news posts
Parx casino to launch first live casino in pennsylvania
Pokerstars launched online poker in pennsylvania
New jersey online gambling revenue rises to $60.3M
Shelly schiff - collaborator
Especially enjoys writing about casino and bingo, but she also has experience creating content about crypto and partnerships.
5 tips to building a casino revenue management strategy
When it comes to revenue management, casino resorts require a different approach than traditional hotels.
When implemented effectively, a solid casino-centric RM strategy can help casino managers market their casino to the right audience and price their product to boost bottom-line revenue.
In duetto’s latest webinar, “understanding the basics of casino revenue management,” nevin reed, senior director of casino services, explores the fundamental concepts behind casino revenue management.
“rapid advancements in technology have changed the game,” reed says. “the best casinos gather supply, demand, worth data, total profit and analyze it. They use it to make operational, comp and pricing decisions.”
In the webinar, reed offers valuable insights into classic RM concepts as they apply to casinos. Employing these different tactics as part of an overall revenue strategy can help casinos become more profitable while simultaneously improving the guest experience.
1. Segmentation
Segmenting in casinos gets a lot more complex. Guests who play high-stakes games and drink high-priced alcoholic beverages should be treated differently than guests who play penny slots and drink water. When you start to drill down into different segments, you can create better offers for different guests that will lead to a more profitable business.
“when you let your prices be fully dynamic, you open yourself up to higher revenues,” reed says. “keep all your segments open and adjust your rates accordingly. Let the customer make the decision not to book with you. Don’t make it for them by closing off a rate.”
2. Forecasting
High-worth customers are known for booking at the last minute. When casinos are armed with a forecast that predicts this type of demand, they can price accordingly. (they can also better balance room inventory and staffing levels.)
“having a system that can give you real-time pickup is highly valuable when you’re creating forecasts,” reed says. “it helps ensure that you’ll always have room for your best customers.”
3. Open pricing
Open pricing allows casinos the flexibility to dynamically free-float pricing for all segments by independently pricing every single segment, channel, room type and offer.
“open pricing allows you price off demand to maximize revenue over high demand and need periods,” reed says.
4. Loyalty and revenue management
Casinos can tap into their existing loyalty programs to track customer spending across an entire property. They can combine that data with open pricing and begin dynamically customizing offers and rates based on the total value of each customer.
“you need to establish 360-degree view of your customer and then determine what personalized offers they should receive,” reed says, adding that with the right tools, casinos can go beyond the typical comp or no-comp decision and optimize revenue with each booking. “casinos can even shift business from otas to their websites by offering fenced rates to loyalty members who book direct.”
5. Loyalty reinvestment
How do casinos keep their customers loyal, but still remain profitable? Simple: reinvestment.
“reinvesting is an incredible piece of the puzzle that you have to understand to stay profitable,” says reed, adding that casinos must evaluate a customer’s overall worth and then use that information to tailor marketing reinvestment through enticements.
“the real future of reinvestment is becoming a completely yieldable and dynamic function of your pricing tools,” he says.
Foxwoods resort casino reports 12% decline in april slot revenue
Foxwoods resort casino has reported slot revenue of $36.2 million for april 2019. This figure is down 12.1% compared to $41.2 million in april 2018.
Foxwoods kicked april off with the property’s new designated ambassador david ortiz and the home-run gaming promotion big papi’s favourite things. From 12 april through 30 may, guests simply play their favourite casino games using their foxwoods rewards card to participate. For every two points earned, players receive one entry into the drawing for a chance to win prizes ranging from $500 in bonus slot play to the grand prize trip for two to the dominican republic to attend big papi’s charity golf tournament.
April also brought excitement to the grand and fox theatre stages, including the return of the foxwoods broadway series as it celebrated the 10th anniversary tour of rock of ages.
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NIGA releases statement on upcoming indian gaming 2020 tradeshow in san diego
The national indian gaming association (NIGA) is preparing for 2020 tradeshow in san diego, which is scheduled to be held on march 24–27. They also continue to closely monitor developments on the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S.
“our hearts and prayers go out to all areas of the country impacted with this situation. Our tribes continue to monitor and prepare as information develops. The national indian gaming association stands ready to assist all tribes with this process,” ernie stevens jr, chairman of national indian gaming association, said.
The indian gaming 2020 tradeshow in san diego will begin 24 march with our golf tournaments at the sycuan tribal nation. As we approach the start date of NIGA’s show, we will continue to provide updates for the tradeshow in san diego.
“we strongly advise that all exhibitors and visitors review all updates and bulletins for travel and health notices at the CDC website. Our tradeshow team is working closely with the san diego convention and tourism authority, as well as local hotels, to ensure preventive measures are in place to keep our attendees safe and surrounded by the best sanitary conditions available,” stevens said.
The 2020 indian gaming tradeshow in san diego is anticipated to be the most successful event yet.
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New york state gaming commission observes problem gambling awareness month
The new york state gaming commission has joined forces with the national council on problem gambling, new york state public health organisations, advocacy groups and gambling operators to dedicate the month of march to raise public awareness of problem gambling.
“the theme for problem gambling awareness month 2020 is ‘awareness + action.’ this month is all about taking action and having conversations about problem gambling issues and directing people to the help they may need,” national council executive director keith whyte said.
“the ‘awareness + action’ theme summarizes our plans for problem gambling awareness month very well. We’re partnering with our licensed operators across the state to educate the gaming public on the various policies and procedures we’ve enacted to both safeguard our players and enhance the integrity and entertainment value of their favorite games,” commission executive director robert williams said.
The commission’s participation in problem gambling awareness month comes on the heels of it earning level four certification by the world lottery association as a global leader in the incorporation of responsible gaming principles into its daily operations year-round. The commission remains the only north american gaming commission that has achieved this status.
“nowhere is our commitment to responsible gaming more evident than in our efforts to prevent new york’s underage players from becoming tomorrow’s disordered gamblers,” williams said.
The commission will use insights from discussions with its alliance partners, as well as its responsible play partnership colleagues, to develop an age verification marketing programme that significantly increases awareness of, and elicits behavioral changes around, lottery age restriction requirements among licensed retailers and lottery players.
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Compliance updates
US congress considers enforcement and compliance review of UIGEA
US senator tom cotton has filed a congressional bill entitled the “prevention of deceptive child-targeted advertising in violation of the unlawful internet gambling enforcement act.”
The bill S. 3322, if adopted, would require the secretary of the treasury to opine on the gaming industry’s compliance with certain aspects of UIGEA. Specifically, treasury would be required to provide: (1) a summary of offerings by online casinos and lotteries operating in the U.S., including a list of such offerings that feature content that may be targeted towards children; and (2) an assessment of both the means by which online casino and lottery websites or mobile apps receive funds from players in light of the prohibitions within UIGEA and the effectiveness of efforts by treasury to ensure compliance with UIGEA.
Second, the bill would require the federal trade commission (FTC) to report on “deceptive advertising related to unlawful internet gambling,” particularly as it relates to children and a summary of the FTC’s efforts to prevent the same.
Furthermore, the bill requires the FTC to report on how social games may be used to entice children to participate in unlawful internet gambling. Sec. 3(b)(1)(B)(i) requires a report “regarding deceptive advertising related to unlawful internet gambling, including an assessment of efforts by internet website and mobile application developers to deceptively present unlawful internet gambling opportunities, including online slot machines, lotteries, table games and similar offerings as part of non-gambling gameplay or application use within websites and mobile applications offered to users in the united states.”
In short, this bill signals a continuing concern by some in congress with the various legal and social issues surrounding online gaming.
Pennsylvania reports increased slot revenue from casinos
Pennsylvania casinos showed modest growth in slot revenue over the last fiscal year, generating over $1 billion in tax revenue for the state again this year.
The pennsylvania gaming control board reported that slot machine revenue for the 2018-19 fiscal year increased 1.1% overall compared to last yearвђ™s reporting period, 2017-18.
Pennsylvaniaвђ™s fiscal year starts july 1 and ends june 30.
The data was released and distributed in a recently published report at the pennsylvania gaming control boardвђ™s website which also provides monthly revenue figures for all 12 pennsylvania casinos throughout the year.
Biggest winners include valley forge, rivers and parx
Boasting 600 slot machines to go along with 50 live gaming tables and 486 rooms, valley forge casino and resort was the biggest winner this year in terms of gross slot revenue compared to what happened during the last reporting period.
Located just 20 miles northwest of philadelphia in king of prussia, valley forgeвђ™s gross slot revenue increased by 11.06% during the 2018-19 fiscal year, from $86,686,698 to $96,278,435. Next closest in terms of percentage growth was rivers casino, located 300 miles across the state in pittsburgh.
Rivers casino, which boasts over 3,000 slot machines, along with 100 table games and a 30-table poker room, enjoyed a 6.15% growth in gross slot revenue over the last fiscal year, from $274,238,465 in 2017-19 to $291,107,335 in the new reporting period.
Parx casino and racetrack in erie enjoyed the next biggest growth in terms of percentage, but also maintained its position as the stateвђ™s highest-grossing slot machine revenue generator. Parx grew from $400,733,138 to a whopping $416,890,976 in 2018-19, which was an increase of 4.03% over the last fiscal year.
Slot machines generate over $1 billion for 10 years
Slot machine play continues to be a huge tax revenue generator for the state.
The tax revenue collected from slot machines across the state was over $1 billion for the tenth straight year. Since opening its first casino back in november of 2006, overall revenue from slot machine play has totaled $27 billion which has resulted in a gross tax revenue generation of $14.5 billion for pennsylvaniaвђ™s governmental coffers.
Over the last decade, slot machine play has generated over $1 billion in tax revenue every year. The first time tax revenue eclipsed the $1 billion mark was 2009-10. Every year since slot machines have grossed overall revenue of at least $2.1 billion every year resulting in tax generation of at least $1.1 billion.
Meanwhile, gross slot machine play revenue for 2018-19 grew slightly overall from $2,352,320,937 to $2,378,859,341. The tax revenue generated from slot machine play in the state also saw a slight uptick from $1,192,851,503 during 2017-19 to $1,237,085,077 for the new reporting period.
With pennsylvania set to see online and mobile casinos launching soon, one can expect the revenue to keep increasing.
So, let's see, what we have: of the 4.5% growth in PA casino revenue year over year, gambling expansion accounted for 3.4% of it in 2019, boosting overall revenue to $3.4 billion. At casino slot revenue
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