Nov. 5--Revenues at Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem continued their recent incline last week when, for the second consecutive report, the casino recorded its busiest week since August.

Gamblers wagered $62.9 million in slot machines for the week of Oct. 26 -- the most since the final week of August -- according to revenues released Wednesday by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.

The wagering boost came, in part, because the casino gave away more than $1 million last week in free play money to its MySands card holders. Only the Philadelphia Park casino gave away more.

Sands kept $4.117 million in gross terminal revenues, which is all the money left in the machines after winners are paid.

Those numbers compare to $61.5 million in wagering, and $4.095 million in gross terminal revenue from the previous week.

The wagering at Sands last week made it the fourth-busiest casino in the state behind two near Philadelphia, and the Meadows Casino just outside of Pittsburgh.

Last week, Pennsylvania's nine casinos reported $528 million in wagering and $39.2 million in gross terminal revenues. That put another $13.3 million into the state's fund for property tax relief. That brings the total taxes collected for real estate tax relief to $245 million since the budget year began July 1.

--Reporting by Matt Assad, The Morning Call

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