Three Phila.-area casinos in top 5 for May revenue

Three Philadelphia-area casinos ranked in the top 5 among the state's 10 gambling halls in table games revenue last month, according to figures released Monday by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.

The three venues - Parx in Bensalem, Harrah's in Chester and SugarHouse on the Philadelphia waterfront - accounted for nearly 45 percent of May's $51.4 million in total table games revenue.

Parx, which opened a $3 million high limit room last week to court high rollers and added more blackjack, poker, craps and baccarat tables to push its total to about 200, led the pack with $9.8 million in table games revenue last month. Sands Resort Casino in Bethlehem, with 113 tables, came in second with $7.2 million.

Harrah's Chester Casino and Racetrack, with 121 tables rounded out the top 3 with $6.9 million. SugarHouse on Penn's Landing came in fourth with the fewest number of tables, 43, and generated $6.6 million.

"Philadelphia is a vibrant table market, which we expect to continue to grow following recent expansions at Parx and Chester, and anticipated future expansions at SugarHouse," said gaming analyst John Kempf at RBC Capital Markets in New York. "More specifically, at Parx, the opening of a new table area marketed to VIP's, signifies that the market is moving toward a higher value gaming customer."

Rivers on Pittsburgh's waterfront - which shares the same owner as SugarHouse - came in fifth. Its 107 table games generated $5.8 million.