States, operators taking different approaches That was nearly twice as much as its closest poker competitor in Pennsylvania, Wind Creek Bethlehem, with $765,521 in revenue from 26 tables. Parx, in particular, is a major poker operator among Northeastern casinos, with 48 tables that claimed $1.4 million in revenue in February, the last full month of casino operation. The three affected most are Parx, Rivers Philadelphia, and Wind Creek Bethlehem, which all collect at least 2% of their revenue from the card games. Rivers Pittsburgh, Hollywood Casino, and Philadelphia Harrah’s make between 1% and 2% of their revenue from poker rakes. In the case of Presque Isle, Mohegan Sun Pocono, Meadows Racetrack & Casino, and Mount Airy Casino Resort, all with fewer than 15 tables, less than 1% of their annual revenue comes from poker. Most of the tables are not even in use at the same time, while getting busiest on weekend evenings and during major promotions or tournaments. The revenue from them varies greatly also.

The 10 others have a combined 218 poker tables, but they range from a high of 48 at Parx Casino to as few as seven at Presque Isle Downs & Casino.

The determination that poker will remain shut down indefinitely by COVID-19 concerns - due to the difficulty in maintaining social distance and the constant contact with cards and chips - will affect some casinos more than others.įor instance, the state’s two casinos in the resort category, Valley Forge Casino Resort and Lady Luck Casino Nemacolin, don’t even have poker rooms. Impact varies, depending on poker room size Of that, $318.6 million came from table games, with poker representing just over 6% of that share. That’s penny ante stuff, somewhat, for those 10 casinos that earned nearly $3.2 billion last year from combined slots, table games, and sports wagering.

Their combined revenue from their rake on poker games amounted to $53.9 million in 2019, down 9.1% from the peak of $59.1 million for live Pennsylvania poker in 2017. Poker players itching to return to live tables received bad news last week when the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board released guidelines that will keep poker rooms closed indefinitely whenever casinos reopen.īut how much of a setback will the continued quiet in the card rooms be for the casinos themselves? Probably not much, as the Texas hold’em cash games and tourneys are not big earners - especially considering the labor involved compared to the machines that dominate the gaming floor.įor the 10 Pennsylvania casinos with card rooms, live poker provides just 1.7% of their overall revenue and it has been on the decline.

Parx casino poker reopen