Cold Weather May Have Kept Gamblers Home In January
By Tony Romeo
HARRISBURG, Pa. (CBS) - January's cold weather and succession of storms is being blamed for a big drop in slots revenues at Pennsylvania casinos.
Gaming Control Board spokesman Doug Harbach says gross revenue from slots play fell almost 9-percent last month compared to January of 2013.
"We've spoken to many of the casinos. Anecdotally, they've noted that the weather certainly played a pretty good part in lessening the crowds that came through their doors. So we believe that a significant portion of that reduction came from the weather."
Harbach says Maryland casinos also attribute bad weather to a similar drop in January. Harrah's Philadelphia had the biggest decline in slots revenue last month, a drop of more than 16-percent.
