In West Virginia, for the first time since August 2022, the Greenbrier reclaimed the top spot in handle and revenue from Charles Town from February 26 through March 25.
According to the West Virginia Lottery, the two casinos accounted for 90 percent of all handle and revenue during that period, with the Greenbrier posting $19.9 million in handle and $2.1 million in revenue at a 10.8 hold and Charles Town posting $19.1 million in handle and $1.7 million in revenue at an 8.8 percent hold.
Mountaineer came in third with a $2.5 million handle and $198,000 in revenue, even though its 7.7 percent hold is the lowest among the state’s five casinos.
Mardi Gras had a handle of $834,000 and revenue of $114,000 with a 13.6 percent hold, the highest in the state. Wheeling Island handled $796.000 and posted $70,000 in revenue with an 8.8 percent hold.
Unsurprisingly, mobile betting far surpassed other forms of betting, with a total of $38.3 million; retail sportsbooks took in the remaining $4.8 million.
Sports betting increased throughout the first half of March but topped out on Saturday, March 18, the date of the first two rounds of NCAA March Madness. The next week’s numbers don’t include the final two matchups of the Elite 8, but produced the lowest handle of any 7-day period in March.
But at the same time, sportsbooks had their best week in terms of percentages with a 13.8 percent hold. Total sports betting numbers were down for the first three months of 2023. The Final Four typically is the start of a 5-month slowdown.
