As land-based casinos remained shut in Pennsylvania for the duration of last month, online gaming continued to be a beneficiary. 

Online slots and table games enjoyed a 77.5% month-on-month rise, with operators generating $43.1 million in this respect. In March, that figure had stood at $24.3 million.

The above verticals accounted for 93.4% of the Keystone State’s April revenue, with online poker and sports betting making up the rest. 

Overall state year-on-year gambling revenue dropped significantly, mainly due to the fact that land-based venues were closed and major sporting events still suspended. 

A closer look at the revenue figures for each vertical 

The majority of last month’s Pennsylvania online gaming revenue was driven by online slots, which surged in popularity. Compared to March 2020, games falling under this category made $27.3 million. This was 121% higher than in the previous month. 

Table games also enjoyed an increase in attention. Their growth wasn’t as big as online slots, with the overall monthly percentage increase standing at 19.4%. As far as revenue is concerned, this reached $10.5 million. 

Online poker also continued to enjoy month-on-month growth, in the absence of land-based wagering and little sports betting. Revenue for this vertical, which only The Stars Group is allowed to offer via its Mount Airy Casino partnership, rose by 67.7% to $5.3 million.

Although the disruption of sports betting dragged on, players still showed an interest. $46.0 million was wagered, representing a 65% drop. Operators made $2.9 million from this, which was 58.1% lower than in the previous month. 

Fantasy sports was the only other vertical to make money, though this declined significantly in both monthly and annual senses. Overall revenue was down 91% compared to April 2020, and 79.6% lower than in March this year. The only two operators to record fantasy sports revenue were DraftKings ($123,748) and FanDuel ($43,506). 

How did the operators fare?

DraftKings’ test launch for online casino offerings, performed under Penn National’s license, generated $29,416 in the two days it was live for. 

The overall top dog in terms of revenue last month was Rush Street’s Rivers Casino Philadelphia. It made $13.7 million, which was 102.8% higher than in March. 

In second place was Mount Airy at $10.4 million, the majority of which came from online poker. FanDuel-partnered Valley Forge was third, with a 59.7% online casino revenue rise totaling $7.9 million. 

Tax revenue from regulated gaming in Pennsylvania stood at $18.3 million. 

Pennsylvania slowly coming out of lockdown 

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf began to ease the state’s COVID-19-induced lockdown measures last week. Some counties had their measures relaxed on May 15th, and more will follow on May 22nd. 

While a dozen additional counties – and around 2.6 million people – will enjoy greater freedoms from this Friday, the Philadelphia region still has a long way to go. 

Pennsylvania has reported 62,234 cases of the novel coronavirus as of May 19th, with 4,418 deaths.