Has the clock run out on Foxwoods investors?

The investors behind the foundering Foxwoods casino in South Philly are expected to plead today for more time to develop their project, eight weeks after they expressed optimism as developer Steve Wynn came on board.

Wynn jilted the investors three weeks ago, pulling out of his bid to take a controlling interest in the project planned for the Delaware River banks at Reed Street.

The state Gaming Control Board is short on patience for the investors - including Comcast-Spectacor chairman Ed Snider, developer Ron Rubin, and New Jersey Nets co-owner Lewis Katz - who partnered with the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation of Connecticut to win a Philadelphia casino license in 2006.

There are three potential outcomes today:

_ Most likely: The investors, who sought a new partner as the Connecticut tribe hit financial troubles, will say that they are now seeking a new big-money backer.

_ Less likely: The investors will tell the board that they have found a new partner and are ready to move forward. It took them six months to sign a deal with Wynn.

_ Not likely: The investors will admit that they are unable to build the casino and give up.

The board is not eager to use its harshest sanction, revocation of the casino license, against the investors. The board's chief enforcement attorney said last month that it would take at least four years to revoke the license, deal with potential litigation, put it back up for bid, select a winner and have a casino built.

If license revocation is the next step, it starts with the board's Office of Enforcement Counsel. That part of the agency would file a complaint against Foxwoods.

The board can't initiate a complaint because of a long-standing state Supreme Court ruling that says that a state board can't serve as both prosecutor and judge.

Foxwoods would have 30 days to respond to an OEC complaint. The two sides could then seek time to compile documents needed to argue their case.

A complaint could be dealt with two ways: The board could hold a hearing or it could refer it to the state Office of Hearing & Appeals, where a hearing officer would take testimony, compile a record and then present the board with a recommendation.

The board would have to hold a hearing to vote on revocation, giving Foxwoods a chance to argue against the action. A vote to revoke the license would likely lead to Foxwoods appealing in court.

This process could take more than a year to complete.

The two Philadelphia casinos were expected to bring in a significant share of the tax revenue used to reduce property taxes across the state and to reduce the city's wage tax.

SugarHouse, a casino being built on the banks of the Delaware River in Fishtown, is expected to open in mid-September. The board in May 2009 approved a two-year extension for SugarHouse to open its casino.

So what has the Foxwoods delay cost the state? The casino was required to open by May 29, 2009. The board's Financial Suitability Task Force in 2006 projected that the casino would bring in $310.8 million per year in 2005 dollars if it operated 3,000 slot machines.

Revenue from table games, approved by the state General Assembly in January, was not factored in to the Foxwoods estimate.

If Foxwoods had opened on time with 1,500 slot machines, the minimum allowed for a casino to start business, it could have made $155.4 million from May 29, 2009 to the end of next month, according to the board estimate.

Taxed at a rate of 53 percent, that would have produced about $82.4 million in the first year. That tax total would have been higher if Foxwoods had sought permission from the board to run more than 1,500 slot machines.