宾夕法尼亚的立法者在去年年初通过在赌场可以设置赌台的法律时，并没有想到会有如此大的影响：一年以后，到今年三月份，宾夕法尼亚在博彩业收入竞赛中已经领先于新泽西。

　　分析家去年曾预测在2012年年底，宾夕法尼亚将会取代新泽西东海岸博彩之都的地位，但是宾夕法尼亚的实际表现则大大超越了这一预测：去年七月份，宾夕法尼亚就在老虎机收入方面超过了新泽西，到了去年年底，在赌台收入方面，宾夕法尼亚也同样拔得头筹。

　　“事实上任何国家法律都会为这种发展开绿灯，特别是在经济不景气的时期”Spectrum博彩集团的资深副总裁乔.魏讷特表示，他一直把宾夕法尼亚博彩业描述为令人艳羡的。

　　三月份，宾夕法尼亚11家赌场的月收入为2.331亿美元，这个数字使之前的月收入记录2.183亿美元黯然失色，那是去年七月份，是允许赌台经营之后的第一个月，三月份的破纪录数字得益于新赌场-福吉谷度假村的开业。

　　博彩业在宾夕法尼亚是新兴行业，2004年立法者才允许开设赌场，但是自那时起就开始迅猛发展，许多赌客选择宾夕法尼亚而不是新泽西来度过他们的夜晚，这种趋势在以后将会继续下去。

　　“宾夕法尼亚的赌场设施是最先进的” 格雷厄姆.达文说“以往我常去大西洋城，但是那已经成为过去了，目前宾夕法尼亚的赌场肯定是最好的，我最少一周会去一次，并且不打算再去大西洋城了。”

　　译文：

　　Pennsylvania Pulling Away From New Jersey In Gambling Race

　　When lawmakers passed legislation early last year that allowed casinos to offer table games in Pennsylvania, the state had no idea what they were getting themselves into. In March, Pennsylvania expanded its lead over New Jersey in the casino gambling revenue race that has been brewing for the past year.

　　Analysts predicted last year that Pennsylvania would surpass New Jersey as the gaming capital of the East Coast by the end of 2012, but the state has far succeeded those predictions. In July of last year, Pennsylvania passed New Jersey in slot revenue, and by the end of the year they had also taken over the table game revenue lead.

　　In March, Pennsylvania expanded that lead by posting revenue at its 11 casinos of $233.1 million. That figure eclipsed the previous record for a month in the state, which was $218.3 million in July, the first month table games were operational. The March numbers were helped by the newest casino, the Valley Forge Casino Resort, which opened late mast month.

　　"Virtually every jurisdiction in the country would kill for that kind of growth, especially in a sluggish economy," said Joe Weinert, Senior Vice President of Spectrum Gaming Group. Weinert went on to describe Pennsylvania as the "envy of the casino industry."

　　The gaming industry in Pennsylvania is relatively new. Legislators did not approve casinos in the state until 2004, but the growth has been swift since then. Last year, when table games were added, many gamblers chose to spend their evenings in Pennsylvania instead of New Jersey, and that trend has continued into the new year.

　　"The casinos in Pennsylvania are state-of-the-art facilities," said Graham Darwon. "I used to go to Atlantic City, but that scene has played itself out. Pennsylvania casinos are definitely the place to be these days, and it's not even close. I go at least once a week, and I have no plans on going back to Atlantic City."