April 16--Sands casino in Bethlehem raked in a record amount of table-game revenues in March, pulling in more than $15.3 million.

It represents a 27 percent increase over a year ago and was easily the most pulled in by any of Pennsylvania's casinos last month.

Parx Casino in Bensalem Township, Bucks County, finished second with $11.1 million -- a best for that casino, but still well short of Sands' March total, according to numbers released Monday by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.

Pennsylvania's casinos may be in a slump for slot machine revenues, but the state's table revenue for March -- at $67.4 million -- was a high for table games like blackjack, craps and roulette.

"March is always the highest month of the year," said gaming board spokesman Richard McGarvey. "We're not entirely sure why, but I've heard theories that it's the month people get their [IRS refund] checks, or that it's the first month after the winter. Whatever the reason, March is the month."

Due to a lagging economy and new competition from Ohio, Maryland and New York, slot machine revenues at Pennsylvania casinos have decreased over last year in five of the past six months, but table game revenues appear to be strong.

Overall, the $67.4 million tallied in March was $5.5 million more than March 2012.

SugarHouse Casino in Philadelphia had the third most table-game revenues with $8 million, followed by $7.3 million at Harrah's Casino in Chester, Delaware County, and $6.7 million at Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh.

Mount Airy Casino, in Paradise Township, Monroe County, pulled in $3.6 million -- a 2 percent drop over last year.

Collectively, the state's 11 casinos paid $9.7 million on their table games revenues for March.

The true test of Pennsylvania's table-game market will come in the coming months. Maryland Live Casino, just south of Baltimore, opened its new table games last week.

"I've read where analysts have projected that to be one of the busiest casinos on the East Coast," McGarvey said. "We'll have to see what impact it has on Pennsylvania."

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