HARRISBURG -- With slot machines at all four of Pennsylvania's racetrack/casinos outperforming profitability estimates that were made last year, it's no wonder that The Meadows can't wait to open its new casino in Washington County on Monday.

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According to figures released by the state Gaming Control Board yesterday, Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, Philadelphia Park, Harrah's Chester Downs and Presque Isle Downs are raking in significantly more money each day from each of their slot machines than had been estimated in mid-2006 by the gaming board's staff.

In all cases except Philadelphia Park, the "win per day'' amounts for each slot machine exceeded the estimates made by the casinos themselves.

"The overall performance of the Pennsylvania slots has been very impressive,'' said Joseph Weinert of Spectrum Gaming Observer, a New Jersey-based gaming industry analyst.

At the Mohegan Sun casino near Wilkes-Barre, the "win per day'' for each machine was $434 in May, $456 in April and $429 in March. Its temporary casino opened for play in November. Before it opened, gaming board staff members had conservatively estimated the casino would take in $180 per day per machine, while Mohegan Sun officials had put the estimate at $230 per day per machine.

Mohegan Sun has something of a monopoly, being hundreds of miles from the nearest casino competitor. But Mr. Weinert cautioned that Mohegan Sun has only 1,109 slot machines at its temporary casino, while the original win-per-day estimates were based on 2,000 slots at a permanent casino, which won't open for another year or so. With fewer slot machines in use, the per-machine figure is naturally higher than the estimate. Yet it's still notable, he said.

"Win per day" is a standard used in the casino industry to determine how well a slot machine is performing. The money is the amount left in the machine after winners have been paid during each day's play. A win per day of $250 to $300 per machine is considered good.

The second racetrack/casino in Pennsylvania was Philadelphia Park in Bucks County, which opened in December with 2,143 slots. Its win per day in May was $354 per machine; in April, $366; and in March, $364.

Those figures are considerably above the $272 estimated by the gaming board in mid-2006. Casino officials had projected a win per day of $375 per machine, which is slightly higher than the actual take so far. Mr. Weinert noted that, like Mohegan Sun, Philadelphia Park doesn't have as many slots on hand as the 3,000 that were originally estimated, which makes the win-per-day figure higher than it ordinarily would be.

For Harrah's Chester Downs, south of Philadelphia, the win per day was $294 per machine in May; $297 in April and $285 in March. All three figures are more than the $236 estimate made by the board staff last year and $248 made by Harrah's. That casino has 2,744 machines.

For Presque Isle Downs in Erie, its 2,000 machines were showing a win of $233 per day in May, higher than the $161 per day estimated by the board. But the Erie casino's per-machine take has dropped each month since it opened, with $308 per day in March, $240 per day in April and $233 in May.

A likely reason for the decline is that the newness of the casino may have worn off, and also that an Indian tribal casino, about an hour north in Salamanca, N.Y., completed a $160 million expansion in April that added more slots and a hotel.

The temporary casino that will open at The Meadows on Monday will be the fifth casino in Pennsylvania.

In 2006 the gaming board's staff estimated a win per day of only $108 per machine there, but the casino itself was more optimistic, at $216 per day. The gaming board staff noted that The Meadows will face competition from the two casinos that have existed in northern West Virginia for the past 10 years and, eventually, from a casino in Pittsburgh.

With continuing delays that have plagued Pittsburgh casino owner Don Barden, The Meadows likely will have the southwestern Pennsylvania gaming market to itself for at least 18 months. The two losing casino bidders, Station Square and Isle of Capri, are in court fighting the state's decision to give Mr. Barden a casino license.

Eventually The Meadows could also face competition from a racetrack/casino that will go in Lawrence or Beaver counties, but that issue is being delayed by a case before the state Supreme Court.

In early 2008 the state's other racetrack/casino will open, 20 miles northeast of Harrisburg at the Penn National Race Course.