Pennsylvania Sets Sights and Tables for Poker
by Bodog Poker | Jan 12 2010
The State of Pennsylvania has taken a major step in how they approach legalized gaming. Last Thursday Governor Ed Rendell signed a bill into law legalizing casino table games, ending a long drawn-out legal process for the state and the local gaming industry. The news means sustained jobs, huge revenues for the state budget, and greater tourism for the area. To this point casinos have been nothing more than slot machine parlors, but all that is going to change within the next six months.
The new law allows numerous types of table games to be played including the big three;
blackjack,
roulette, and
poker. The law lets the state's bigger casinos install 250 tables for games such as poker, blackjack,
craps,
baccarat, and roulette, while the smaller resort casinos can have 50 games on the floor. Greenwood Gaming & Entertainment Inc., which owns PhiladelphiaPark Casino & Racetrack in Bensalem, has already announced that it plans to add as many as 70 poker tables to its current slots-only format.
The Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh estimated that they it will add 20 poker tables, while the currently-under-construction SugarHouse Casino in Philadelphia could have as many as 40 poker tables by the time they open their doors for action. Mount Airy Casino Resort in the Pocono Mountains region plans to add 15 poker tables, while Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs has no current plans to add any poker action at this time.
The Pennsylvania area has suffered from the current economy, and the legalization of the table games will not only save 1000 jobs but it will create many more. The close proximity to Atlantic City will surely have a big effect on the longstanding east coast gaming capital. Pennsylvania gamers will no longer have to go to New Jersey to play in a poker tournament or to play a few hands of blackjack.
Atlantic City has already been feeling the pinch over the last decade as other states adopt looser gaming laws to jumpstart their local economy. Harvey Perkins, a senior vice president with the Linwood-based casino consulting firm Spectrum Gaming Group, predicted Atlantic City will suffer a double-digit drop in table game revenue beginning in 2011. And what's worse for Atlantic City is that, like Pennsylvania, Delaware is preparing to introduce table games this year.
It was no secret that the state of Pennsylvania was going to pass the laws to bring this action into the casinos. A new state budget had already been approved that had the future gaming revenues already figured in. Yet the House had a close vote of 103-89 to send the bill for signing.
"The challenge to oversee a managed expansion at Pennsylvania's casinos from a regulatory perspective is now before us, and the Gaming Control Board is well-prepared," Chairman Gregory C. Fajt said. “At the same time, no one should believe that implementing table games is as simple as turning on a spigot. We will move the process along as quickly as possible, but will not sacrifice thoroughness for speed."
