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The state of Pennsylvania has raked in a record iGaming revenue for the month of February to the tune of $184.9m.
The Keystone State did however map year-on-year declines in all the other markets involving staking in sports betting markets.
Pennsylvanian iGaming record profit
The report from the Pennsylvanian Gaming Control Board (PGCB) reports a 9% overall increase in total gaming from February 2023 to 2024. This figure would sit at an impressive $499,093,210 overall for the haul from games of chance across the year.
The returns from retail slot machines was “$202,742,794, a 0.04% decrease in revenue when compared to the $202,822,213 generated in February 2023,” according to the report. This shows a small dip in contrast to the previous year, but retail slots remain the largest source of iGaming revenue for the state.
IGaming slot revenue saw a significant 35.6% jump from $92m to $125.9m, and internet table games more than doubled with from $36m to $56.6m, a 56.7% increase.
Online poker seen an 8.3% revenue decline to $2.4m, the only major negative report alongside the sports wagering figures.
Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course led the pack of operators with a 36.8% year-on-year increase in iGaming coming in at $77.3m, with Valley Forge Casino Resort the next in line with $44.8m, taking home the bronze was Rivers Casino Philadelphia on $29.3m for the year.
Pennsylvania would also see a 30% decline in taxable sports wagering revenue, which would also mark a year-on-year decline. This was despite an increase in annual revenue which the report would highlight as “$661,740,812 or 10.38% above the February 2023 total of $599,529,429.”
Valley Forge Casino would be the standout across the year for the Keystone State with annual revenue of $17.7m with Hollywood Casino at the Meadows trailing behind on $7.6m. The Fantasy Contest revenue market would see a 5% decline from 2023’s watermark and Video Gaming Terminals (VGT) in the state would see a marginal dip by 2.4%.
The report would say of the VGT’s that “By the end of February 2024, all VGT Operators offered the maximum permitted five machines at 72 qualified truck stop establishments, compared to five machines at 66 establishments at this time last year.”
The PGCB is currently promoting gambling awareness month for the state and took to X to promote their activity to tackle problem gambling:

PGCB Program Analyst Jack Gallick (3rd from left) and Office of Compulsive and Problem Gambling Director Liz Lanza (4th from left) joined other professionals in the capitol in Harrisburg today to promote Problem Gambling Awareness Month. pic.twitter.com/iHBmKuoyAE
— PGCB (@PAGamingControl) March 18, 2024

Image: Pexels.
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It’s no secret that cookies track everything we do online but, from the end of 2023, it became easier to see just how far your data travels.
In November 2023, IAB Europe (a non-profit association that represents undertakings in the digital advertising and marketing sector in Europe) updated its Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF) to include the provision that website pop-ups should show how many partners’ data is shared on their first page. This minor change went unnoticed by many, although you might have spotted that more websites also now offer a ‘reject all’ option on cookie pop-ups that appear when you enter a website.
The consequence of this change is that it got a lot easier to see where websites are sharing user data. In a report published on March 20, WIRED has undertaken an analysis of the top 10,000 most popular websites, learning that data is being shared with more than 1,000 companies. Many websites have hundreds of partnerships with external firms.
The site with the most partners is quiz and puzzle website JetPunk, with 1,809 companies it could share personal information with, such as browsing behavior or identifying information. Other websites topping the list include publisher Dotdash Meredith (the company behind investopedia.com, people.com, and allrecipes.com), news sites The Daily Mail, Reuters, ESPN, and BuzzFeed, internet speed monitoring firm Speedtest.net, and online medical publisher WebMD.
It’s worth noting that these websites are likely not actively sharing data directly. Many use a third-party tracker and the tracker company then shares the data it collects with other customers.
How to protect your data online
The data shared with these partners might not seem like a big deal, but if you do want to better protect yourself online, it’s wise to read the pop-ups you’re automatically clicking away. Most websites will offer a ‘reject all’ option or the ability to specify what data is shared.
Using privacy-focused browsers like Firefox and Duck Duck Go, plug-ins to boost your data protection, and browsing in incognito mode can help you to protect how far your data travels. For businesses, this data protection checklist can help you safeguard both corporate and consumer information.
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Ah, you are playing Stardew Valley again now the patch is out, aren’t you? Well, it’s a good choice because it is still a truly great game. Today we are going to get the legendary Meowmere Sword, which will be familiar to you if you played Terraria as well. You did play Terraria didn’t you?

This weapon is one of the game’s new secrets so there are a couple of minor hoops to jump through, starting with obtaining a couple of items, one of which can take a little time to acquire. Let’s crack on.
How to get the Ancient Doll
Right, we need an Ancient Doll and we need one fast. Unfortunately for us, it is a pretty rare drop. We never said getting this particular sword was going to be easy. For starters let’s go underground and do some mining.
Digging in specific locales like Cindersap Forest, Pelican Town, and the Mountain gives us the best chance of a drop. Of these, we found Cindersap Forest the most fruitful, but that might just be pure luck on our behalf. Your odds may vary elsewhere. Stick to these areas though and you should get a doll before too long.
The Ancient Doll can also drop on super-rare occasions while you are fishing, so you could strike it lucky. The other chance is that you get given one during the Feast of the Winter Star, but again the odds seem stacked against you here.
How to get the Faraway Stone
Once the Ancient Doll is in your possession, the next phase of your journey involves a sacrifice. Our favorite. Venture deep into the mines to level 100, where a pit of lava awaits. It’s here that you must part with the Ancient Doll, casting it into the molten depths to be rewarded with the Faraway Stone.
How to get the Meowmere Sword
With the Faraway Stone secured, your final destination is the Wizard Tower in Pelican Town. Head into its basement to discover a patch of green vines. It’s at the base of these vines that you’ll place the Faraway Stone. This will trigger a cutscene.
An interdimensional cat emerges to bestow upon you the Meowmere Sword. Hang on, did that cat just come from Terraria? Sword in hand, you now have the secret weapon in Stardew Valley 1.6. Well done you.
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The fact that Final Fantasy VII Rebirth launched as such a polished product, despite its size and scope is a testament to the devs that made it happen so smoothly. This has allowed them to settle down and concentrate on ironing out any of the more annoying minor issues that remain and that would seem to be the aim of this patch, which, while not having any major changes, will sort out one or two issues that may have been annoying you while you play.
Most of the fixes here are not to sort out game-breakers, although there are one or two hidden in there, but there are a lot of Quality of Life tweaks that will make the game more enjoyable. Corrected text, better guidance, and some graphical issues altered. Let’s have a look at what we get for our download today.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth 1.020 Patch
Here is a rundown of what is included in the patch that will be rolling out throughout the day:
Version1.020

Corrected typos and omissions in some texts.
Fixed a bug with the control character that occurred under certain conditions on the map.
Fixed a problem where Red XIII’s abilities “Lunatic High” and “Warrior Inspire” were more likely to be canceled during battles.
Fixed a bug that caused enemies to stop under certain conditions during battle.
Fixed a progression bug that occurred under certain conditions in quests.
Improved frame rate and overall game stability.
Added “Sharp” and “Soft” options to the screen output settings of performance mode.
Improved graphics quality.
The reverse setting of the camera is reflected in “gliding” during the operation of the chocobo in the sky.
The reverse setting of the camera is reflected in the shooting mini-game camera.
Enhanced guidance support during ivy climbing at the location “Mithril Mine”.
Added difficulty settings to the customization screen of the mini-games “Condor Fort” and “Gambit Gears”.

More Final Fantasy VII Rebirth pages you may like:

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Difficulty Settings – which should you choose?
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth outfits and how to change appearance
What Is The Max Level In Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth?

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