Casinos in Pennsylvania reduce slot numbers
Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course and Hollywood Casino at The Meadows have been authorised by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board to reduce their total number of slot machines.
US.- The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board has approved the removal of slots machines at Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course and Hollywood Casino at The Meadows. Two other casinos Harrah’s Casino Philadelphia and Mount Airy Casino have also cut the number of slots they host.
The main reasons for the reductions and modification of the gaming floor is the proliferation of unregulated, untaxed gambling machines, also known as “skill games,” across the state.
Adrian King of Ballard Spahr represented Mountainview Thoroughbred Racing Association (Penn National) at the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board monthly meeting and said that a number of factors impacted the amount of slots at casinos, including the lingering effects of the coronavirus pandemic and the emergence of online gaming.
“Penn National contends that skill machines have undoubtedly contributed to slot count reduction being necessary. Skill games are a type of slot machine.,” he said. “This isn’t just a Penn National problem.”
King pointed to the growth of distributed gaming, the widespread distribution of slot machines outside of casinos. He said that between 2013-2019, casino gross gaming revenue declined by $200m. That caused the Illinois gaming industry to shed 19 per cent of its workforce and casinos’ valuation to deteriorate, he said.
“This should come as no surprise,” continued King. “If you can play at a bar, tavern or convenience store and avoid a trip to the casino they will. It comes as a real price to casino operators who have made vast investments in their properties and to the Commonwealth which can’t collect its 52 per cent tax rate on legal casino slot machine revenue.”
The reduction at Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course and Hollywood Casino at The Meadows slots is not expected to impact gaming revenues or taxes. The reduction is planned in such a way as not to damage the venues’ income or to endanger the employees’ jobs. The removal will prioritise older machines that have become harder to repair.
The cut in machine numbers will take into account the number of visitors in order to avoid its resulting in scarcity. The Hollywood Casino at PNRC will be removing 191 of its 1,927 slot machines. The Hollywood Casino at the Meadows, in turn, will remove 317 of its 2,323 machines.
See also: Pennsylvania pulls in $415.6m in gaming revenue in September
