Plainville casino numbers dip slightly

The Sun Chronicle
 
Plainville casino numbers dip slightly
Wild Casino

PLAINVILLE — Revenues at the state’s only slots parlor continued their slow slide in October, according to figures released Monday, but were still running ahead of last year’s figures for the month.

According to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, gross gaming revenue at Plainridge Park Casino for last month was just over $11.7 million. That’s down slightly from the $11.9 million in revenue reported in September.

Gross gaming revenues at Plainridge, the difference between what gamblers bet at the casino and what they take home in winnings, have dropped slightly every month since hitting a post-pandemic high of more than $12.9 million in July.

But last month’s figures are still healthier than the slightly more than $10 million in revenue the casino reported in October of 2020 when Plainridge — like the state’s other casinos — was still rebounding from three months of a state-imposed pandemic shutdown. October’s figures represent $5.7 million in state taxes from Plainridge.

Penn National Gaming, the Pennsylvania-based corporation which runs Plainridge, does not comment on the state’s monthly revenue reports.

But Plainridge revenue has followed a general pattern over its five years of operation in seeing a rise in the spring and summer and declines in the fall.

Last month’s numbers were better at the state’s two resort casinos.

MGM Springfield had $21.4 million in gross gaming revenue from slot machines and table games, up from $19.4 million in September. Encore Boston Harbor in Everett had revenues of $62.8 million, up from $57.5 the previous month for both slots and table games.

Plainridge has some 1,250 electronic slots but does not offer any live table games, although it does have electronic versions of games such as poker and blackjack. Legislation has been proposed on Beacon Hill to expand live table games to Plainridge.

Altogether, the state’s casinos reported revenue of approximately $96 million, the commission said.

To date, the commission reports, the state has collected approximately $921 million in total taxes and assessments from the three gaming venues since their openings.