Pennsylvania closer to table games?
Pennsylvania’s Democratic-led House Gaming Oversight Committee took the first step on a bill to legalize blackjack and other table games at the state’s licensed slots casinos, holding a hearing last week on it despite heavy opposition in the Senate to expanding the state’s gambling platter.
The hearing featured testimony by casino executives and racing industry officials, who said that legalizing table games would boost the revenue from slots gambling, benefiting taxpayers, the equine industry and more.
Robert Soper, the chief executive of Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, told the panel that adding table games would help create jobs that pay $6 to $7 an hour with benefits, or $22 an hour with tips.
However, Soper said that Pennsylvania’s sky-high tax rate of 50-plus percent on slots revenues is impractical for table games, since dealers, supervisors and more create a higher overhead.
Gambling industry officials say table games are rebounding in popularity, and have the potential to draw bigger spenders from farther away who may stay in town longer and spend more money at hotels, shops and restaurants.
