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Pennsylvania has recorded a 5.4 per cent increase in total gaming revenue for the month of September, with its figure rising from $270.6m in 2018 to $285.3m.

Sports wagering has again been lauded as a huge contributing factor to the increase, as bettors throughout the Keystone State jumped at the first opportunity to legally bet on the NFL.

This new report issued by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board takes in slot machines, table games, internet gaming, retail and internet sports wagering, fantasy contests and video gaming terminals, and sees a slight revenue drop from August’s £293.4m.

Parx Casino continues its market leading status with $53.7m, a 9.2 per cent rise from $49.1m, with Wind Creek Bethlehem and Rivers Casino again making up the top three.

Wind Creek, which this week completed rebranding of the former Sands Bethlehem property, fell 3.6 per cent to $41m (2018: $42.6m), with Rivers increasing 10.5 per cent from $29.7m to $32.9m.

September’s gross revenue from slot machines at the state’s 12 casinos was $188.3m, a four per cent decrease from the $196.2m generated in September 2018, with the subsequent tax revenue generated coming in at $96.8m.

Table games also saw revenue drop for the month to $70.6m, 2.3 per cent down from $72.3m, which saw total tax revenue come in at $11.3m.

SugarHouse Casino, Parx Casino and Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course built upon a solid first month in the online casino space as total revenue came in at $5.3m, a 55 per cent from the previous months $3.4m.

It’s the Hollywood Casino that leads the way this time with revenue of $2.9m (August: $684,452) ahead of Parx’s $1.2m (August: $1.09m), SugarHouse however saw a decline in its figures as revenue fell from $1.6m to $1.06m.

Pennsylvania’s sportsbooks generated $194.5m in handle in September, up from 78 per cent from the record $109m in August, yielding $14.9m in revenue, a significant increase from August’s $6.1m.

The FanDuel Sportsbook at Valley Forge Casino dominated the online market, which represented 81 per cent of the state’s total handle, generating $4.7m in revenues.

On a revenue basis it was Rivers who led the way in retail sportsbooks with $1.07m, a short distance ahead of SugarHouse’s $1.05m and Rivers’ $957,791.

“After a somewhat slow start, Pennsylvania is beginning to display similar growth patterns as New Jersey,” said Dustin Gouker, lead analyst for PlayPennsylvania.com

“New Jersey had the advantage of a more established gaming infrastructure when it launched sports betting. But now that the online sports betting infrastructure is in place, Pennsylvania is beginning to show its potential.”