Pennsylvania number 2 in US

$233.1 million was raked in from Pennsylvania’s 11 casinos. This indicated an all time monthly high since the state’s first casino opened in November 2006 and cementing the state’s status as the nation’s second-largest gambling market. It has consequently cemented its status as as No. 2 gambling market in US.

The slots totals released Tuesday by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board include revenue from two test nights and one day of operations at the state’s 11th casino, Valley Forge Casino Resort, which opened Saturday. Overall, the figures broke the previous monthly record of $218.3 million set in July, and they represent an 8.5 percent increase over March 2011.

“Virtually every jurisdiction in the country would kill for that kind of growth, especially in a sluggish economy,” said Joe Weinert, senior vice president of Spectrum Gaming Group, a New Jersey casino consulting firm, who called the state the “envy of the casino industry.”

When slots and table game revenues are combined, Pennsylvania has surpassed New Jersey and grown into the second-largest casino market in the country behind Las Vegas. The two traded places in July, Weinert said, and, by January, Pennsylvania had grown into a $3.66 billion market, compared to a $3.3 billion market for New Jersey.

For the first two months of 2012, Pennsylvania casinos tallied $515.7 million in gross revenue when slots and tables are combined, according to gaming board figures. During the same period, New Jersey reported comparable gross revenue of $479.6 million.

Richard McGarvey, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania gaming board, said the March figures simply show that the state’s market is growing, with each casino showing improvement over the year before.

“It still shows that the Pennsylvania market is still expanding,” McGarvey said. “It just shows that the casinos are still drawing more patrons in.”