Casinos ended 2021 with big month

Of the $95.65 million in gaming revenue produced in December, Encore Boston Harbor was responsible for having pulled in $62.4 million or just about two-thirds of the statewide total. December now ranks as the second-best month in terms of revenue for the Everett casino that opened in June 2019, trailing only October 2021’s $62.8 million haul.

At MGM Springfield, the $22.2 million generated in gaming revenue last month represented the highest monthly total since July 2021 and made December the state’s first casino’s second-best month since March 2019. MGM’s table games, including the only legal poker tables in the state, generated $5.53 million in revenue last month, just the second time since the pandemic began that they produced more than $5 million in a month. The slots parlor at Plainridge Park pulled in about $11.05 million in December, about 7.02 percent of the $157.3 million that gamblers put into the slot machines last month. With a historic average payout percentage of 92.16 percent, the slots at Plainridge Park are the most player-friendly in the state (Encore is second with a payout percentage of 91.88 percent and MGM’s slots are the stingiest with an average payout percentage of 91.56 percent).

The $95.65 million in monthly gaming revenue for December translates into about $26.56 million in tax and fee revenue for the state. Encore and MGM are each taxed at a rate of 25 percent of gross gaming revenue. That worked out to $15.6 million from Encore and $5.55 million from MGM last month. Plainridge Park pays a 49 percent tax on its gross gaming revenue, which in December worked out to $5.41 million for the state.