In 45 minutes, he lost $100.

For Federici, a casino just 25 minutes from home has contributed to his regular loss of about $800 a month - a third of his pension check.

"You walk out saying, 'I'm not coming back,' " said Federici, 61, "but you know it's a falsehood."

Rudy Castillo, 63, picks up trash inside the same casino. For him, the arrival of gambling has meant a steady job at $10.50 an hour plus health benefits. And, at his urging, PhiladelphiaPark Casino & Racetrack hired 19 fellow Filipinos, including four in his family.

"They've been good to us," said Castillo, who last spring bought a four-bedroom house in Langhorne.

Two years into its gamble to open 14 casinos across the state, Pennsylvania is halfway there - and is reaping what it has sown.

As promised, slots parlors have brought stable jobs and serious revenue to the state, but the harvest has not come without a human toll.

The seven operating casinos generated more than $1.8 billion in revenue for the state between Nov. 14, 2006, when the first one, in Wilkes-Barre, opened, and Sept. 30.

Much of that has gone to tax relief for low-income seniors and to school districts, bringing down homeowners' tax bills.

Philadelphia's wage tax will drop next year, said Finance Director Rob Dubow, because of $86.6 million in slots revenue - from 4.169 percent to 3.93 percent for residents, and from 3.685 percent to 3.50 percent for nonresidents.

For those who make $50,000 a year, that's a savings of $119.50 if they live in the city and $92.50 if they just work there.

Much more is expected to pour into state coffers after seven other casinos, including two in Philadelphia, open.

"We've surpassed expectations," said Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board chairwoman Mary DiGiacomo Colins, and still have "three of the state's biggest populations to tap" - Bethlehem, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.

The casinos also have created 6,500 jobs and brought additional employment, infrastructure improvements, and revenue to their communities.

And $288 million from slots (as of Thursday) has energized the state's horse-racing industry. Seven of the 14 slots licenses went to racetracks; six so far have built slots parlors.

"The tracks are attracting a higher caliber of horse and a higher caliber of horseman," said Jerry Connors of the Pennsylvania Harness Racing Commission, which oversees all harness-racing activity.

"Because the races are attractive, you could see the betting going up."

Harrah's Chester Casino & Racetrack now has one of the highest harness-track purses in the world - $313,172 per day.

The daily harness purse at Pocono Downs in Wilkes-Barre has tripled, to an average of $158,000.