The twelve casinos in Pennsylvania had a record-breaking year in 2016 as their combined gross gaming revenues improved by 1.25% year-on-year to hit $3.21 billion thanks in large part to an all-time high in takings from table games.

According to official figures from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, aggregated gross table gaming revenues for 2016 reached $853.23, which was a rise of 5.5% year-on-year, although slot takings decreased by just over 0.2% to $2.36 billion.

“Tables really were the driver,” Richard McGarvey from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette newspaper. “Tables continue to expand. Slot revenues the last couple of years have been flat to slightly down. Tables are clearly still expanding. More people are playing them.”

The regulator stated that 2016 marked the sixth consecutive year in which combined gross gaming revenues for the state’s casinos had exceeded $3 billion and means that the venues had achieved total takings in excess of $25.89 billion since their first full month of operation in November of 2006.

Table gaming was added to Pennsylvania casinos in 2010 with the regulator explaining that 2016 tax revenues from the state’s gambling establishments amounted to $1.38 billion while the tally since 2006 stood at $13 billion.

In terms of individual performances, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board’s figures showed that Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem from operator Las Vegas Sands Corporation brought in $230.15 million from table games in 2016, which represented a year-on-year swell of 7.34%, although it recorded a comparable 4.23% drop for December to $19.01 million.

Last year saw Parx Casino And Racing in the northern Philadelphia suburb of Bensalem record total table games revenues of $161.82 million, which was up by in excess of 12% when compared with 2015, although the figure for December dropped by 1.7% year-on-year to $13.08 million.

Another big winner was SugarHouse Casino as it reported 2016 table games revenues of $116.49 million, which was a boost of 22.95% year-on-year, while it moreover had a good December as its non-slot gambling takings of $10.16 million represented an improvement of 17.59%.

Among those that will seemingly be happy to see the back of 2016, Mount Airy Casino Resort in the Poconos Mountains reported that its annual table games revenues had fallen by 8.58% year-on-year to $42.58 million while its $3.61 million in takings for December were a decline of 5.59%.

Lady Luck Casino Nemacolin, which could soon be owned by Eldorado Resorts Incorporated, additionally had a bad 2016 as its annual table games revenues decreased by 12.24% year-on-year to $4.65 million while the Fayette County venue moreover recorded a comparable 36.53% shrinkage in takings from these games in December to just over $251,000.