Table Games Expected in Pennsylvania This Summer

For the past several months, Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell has been working to pass a bill to legalize table games in Pennsylvania casinos. Until now, Pennsylvania casinos have been focused on slot machine play. However, Rendell had hoped to add table games to the mix in order to increase government revenue and fill a hole in the budget. It looks like this legislation will go into effect, as casinos are expected to add table games like blackjack and poker as early as July 4 of this year.

In order to push the bill through, Governor Rendell threatened a layoff of almost 1,000 state workers. The plan seems to have worked, as the chairman of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, Gregory C. Fajt, announced that the new games should be operating within six to nine months.

The addition of table games n Pennsylvania casinos will not be a free for all. There are rules and regulations that have been set. Large casinos will be limited to 250 tables for games like roulette and craps. Small casinos will only be allowed 50 tables. Additionally, there will be training requirements for dealers and casino workers, and government implemented rules for a number of different poker variations and other games.

Not all lawmakers are pleased with this new bill. For instance, many House Republicans feel that they were excluded from the crafting of this bill and that it ignores many problems. However, despite these feelings the bill has been passed and now all that remains is to see if the new table games will in fact fill the whole in the budget that Rendell is hoping to repair.

Table Games Expected in Pennsylvania This Summer

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