The week between Christmas and New Year’s is typically the busiest and most profitable in the casino business and slot machines at Sands Bethlehem Casino provided the bulk of jingle bells for the company’s bottom line.

Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board statistics show $80.43 million was jammed through the casino’s 3,023 slot machines by eager gamblers between Dec. 27 and Jan 2.

For the month of December, the PGCB reported Sands’ gross slots revenue at $20,724,560, which translates into a 20.68 percent year-over-year increase over last December.

Slot payouts to gamblers for the period from Dec. 27 through Jan 2. totaled just more than $72.4 million. The state takes 34 percent slice of the Sands’ gross revenue -- totaling more than $2.9 million during the week ending Jan. 2 – into its General Fund. Mandated percentages are also funneled to local share assessment, the state’s Gaming, Economic Development and Tourism Fund and the Pennsylvania Race Horse Development Fund.

The remainder left Sands Bethlehem with an average win of $304.74 per slot machine from Dec. 26 through the end of the New Year's weekend.

State Gaming Control Board figures reveal more than $283 million was wagered on slot machines at the Bethlehem casino during the month.

“2010 was another good year of solid growth in slot revenue,” said PGCB Executive Director Kevin O’Toole in a Jan. 4 statement. “For the fourth year in a row Pennsylvania saw an increase in revenue from legalized casino gaming and, with the popularity of tables games, tax revenue should continue to grow throughout 2011.”

The PGCB has not yet released table games figures for December. Sands’ November table games revenue of $4.65 million pushed its fiscal year 2010-’11 totals to $20.536 million for wagers on blackjack, baccarat, mini-baccarat, craps, poker, Pai-Gow poker, roulette, Three-Card poker and Casino War.

PGCB statistics show Sands' gross monthly table game revenues ranging between $4.1 million and $5.5 million since table games debuted in July. Gross revenue in July was just more than $1.4 million.