Maryland's four casinos brought in about $65 million in December, their lowest monthly revenue since the Rocky Gap Casino Resort opened in May.

Still the total was well above revenues seen at the end of 2012, riding a nearly 50 percent year-over-year revenue increase at Maryland Live Casino at Arundel Mills, according to the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency.

Excluding Rocky Gap, which opened in May and generated the least revenue in December, the state's three other casinos — Maryland Live, Hollywood Casino Perryville and Casino at Ocean Downs — brought in about 38 percent more revenue last month than in December 2012.

However, all three saw a dip in revenues in December compared to recent months.

Maryland Live, with 4,341 slot machines and 174 table games, brought in the bulk of the revenue, with about $52.5 million. That is a 46 percent increase over December 2012, but a slight decrease from the $53.4 generated in November.

Maryland Live also had the highest gross gaming revenue per unit per day, at about $240 per slot machine and more than $4,700 per table.

Casino at Ocean Downs, with 800 slot machines, brought in about $3.4 million in December, a 1.6 percent increase over December 2012.

Hollywood Casino Perryville, with 1,158 slot machines and 22 table games, generated about $6.5 million in December, a 9 percent more than December 2012.

Rocky Gap, with 558 slot machines and 13 table games, brought in about $2.6 million in December.

The $65 million total in December was the least amount of casino revenue in Maryland since April, the month before Rocky Gap opened, when revenues stood at $58.9 million.

The highest amount of revenue in 2013 came in August, when revenue stood at about $71 million.

In total, the December revenues contributed nearly $25 million for the state's education trust fund, nearly $3 million for the state's horse racing purses, about $720,000 for the state's racetrack facility renewal fund, about $866,000 for the gaming control agency, and about $633,000 for small, minority and women owned businesses.

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

twitter.com/rectorsun