Table games debut Thursday at 3 Pa. casinos

PITTSBURGH - After six months of buildup, gamblers here will be among the first in the state to sit at such table games as poker, roulette and blackjack starting at 6 o'clock Thursday morning.

The much anticipated table games launch is occurring almost simultaneously at three Western Pennsylvania casinos, reflecting the fiercely competitive nature of the industry.

The Rivers Casino on the North Shore will debut 85 tables games at 6 a.m., while the Meadows Racetrack and Casino, 15 miles south of downtown Pittsburgh, will open its 68 table games at the same time.

Four hours later and a two-hour drive away, Presque Isle Downs & Casino in Summit Township, Erie County, will unveil 48 tables, including 27 blackjack, six craps and four roulette tables.

The casinos had a limited test run of their table games on Tuesday.

"We believe the addition of table games at Pennsylvania casinos could increase casino revenues by $350 million to $450 million statewide per annum in three years time," said Wells Fargo Securities L.L.C. gaming analyst Dennis Farrell. "We are assuming 700 tables statewide and a modest pickup in demand at the slot machines."

Philadelphia's suburban casinos - Parx in Bensalem and Harrah's Chester Casino & Racetrack in Delaware County - will debut their table games July 18. SugarHouse Casino, under construction on the Philadelphia waterfront, plans to open with 40 tables in late September.

Thursday's launch of the games at the three Western Pennsylvania locations arrives almost six years to the day after lawmakers in Harrisburg and Gov. Rendell signed off on the bill that brought slot machine gambling to the state.

And it comes on the heels of Delaware's opening its three racetrack casinos to table games, starting in May, and West Virginia's expanding its table games offering on July 1.

Rendell, state lawmakers and casino operators are all hoping to build on the success of slots, especially with the state's dire financial needs.

Gross slots revenue is taxed at 55 percent in Pennsylvania.

It was a $200 million budget shortfall about a year ago that pushed table games to the forefront, and encouraged Rendell to sign off on an expansion of gambling.

Already, for the fiscal year ended June 30, licensing fees from 10 casino operators for the right to add table games generated $165 million.

For the fiscal year that started July 1, the state expects an additional $15 million in license fees ($7.5 million each from two yet-to-open smaller casinos), plus about $75 million from the 16 percent tax on table-games proceeds.