BANGOR, Maine (NEWS CENTER)-- The annual survey of New England gambling venues put out by the University of Dartmouth Massachusetts states that Hollywood Casino had a drop in revenue by about three percent in 2011, from 2010.
Hollywood Casino General Manager John Osborne said the weather last winter was a big reason for the decline in last year's revenue.
"We literally had over eight feet of snow in about three months, with the cold weather the snow stayed here. So it impeded people's ability to get to Hollywood Casino," Osborne said.
But this year, Osborne said the casino is seeing its revenue increase about five percent increase in January and February from last year. And that number climbed even higher in March when the new table games were added.
"We actually saw an increase much higher than that, close to eight percent just on the slot machine side with the opening of the table games on March 16. So we're seeing that same trend continue through April," Osborne.
Since those table games have been in place, Osborne said they have been bringing in more revenue than expected.
"The Black Jack, Roulette type games are doing about 50 percent better than we had forecasted and poker is nearly the demand than what we had estimated based on the population in the area," Osborne said.
Osborne said on weekends players sometimes have to wait for a couple of hours to get a seat at a poker table. Because of the popularity, the casino is looking to add two more tables within the next month.
NEWS CENTER