Slots Revenue Up 13% at Sands Casino in 2011

December's gross revenue from slot machines was almost 14 percent higher than revenue produced the previous year, according to figures released by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board this week.

Slots revenue at Bethlehem's increased 13 percent - rising from $20.7 million in December 2010 to $23.4 million in December 2011.

The only Pennsylvania casino that made more money from slots last year was Parx Casino in Philadelphia.

The Sands set a in August and also

Gaming Control Board Executive Director Kevin O'Toole says good weather, an improving economy, and continued fine-tuning of marketing by casinos likely fueled December's revenue growth.

Overall casino revenue in Pennsylvania for 2011 increased almost 6 percent over 2010. Casinos generated $1.3 billion in tax revenue for the Commonwealth last year.

PGCB Chairman William H. Ryan, Jr. says it was the fifth year in a row that Pennsylvania saw an increase in revenue from slot machine gaming and, with the popularity of table games and the expected addition of the first resort hotel casino in Valley Forge, tax revenue should continue to grow in 2012.

Ryan says that in 2012, those benefits will include a fifth straight year of school property tax reduction for Pennsylvania homeowners.