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New Proposal Being Vetted For Legalizing Poker And Blackjack

In the state of Pennsylvania, it was revealed by legislative staffers that a leading Democrat is expected to present legislation at the beginning of next year that has the potential of legalizing blackjack, poker and other types of table games within new casinos being opened in the state.
State Rep. Bill DeWeese (D., Greene) surprised even his fellow Democratic allies when, only two weeks following the introduction of the first slot machine parlors in Pennsylvania, the House minority leader, admitted the was preparing a bill that would if passed turn the state's planned slot machine parlors into complete casinos.
When the Democrats take control in January, DeWeese is expected to become House speaker as the result of the late election results revealed yesterday showing that the Democrats had won Chester County’s 156th District seat.
Michael Manzo, who is DeWeese's chief of staff, reported that the many individual details of the bill were still under discussion, including whether to leave it up to the local municipalities to determine whether or not slots casinos should be allowed to also run table games.
Manzo said that there was still some ways to go before any final draft of the resolution would be ready. He stated that one of the questions that still needed to be dealt with was whether or not to allow for local referendums.
The goal of the bill is to have all of the present 14 licensees given the added advantage of being eligible for table games so that they will be able to compete with the surrounding states, states like West Virginia, that are already considering going from slot machines to complete casino gambling.
Manzo says that at one time 85 percent of a casino’s business consisted of slots, but that at the present time this is no longer the case. He adds that much more money can be generated by the state from property taxes.
The law that makes gambling legal in the state was approved in 2004, mostly with the intent of finding a source of cash to cover impending tax cuts.
Manzo said that DeWeese, did not accept any suggestion that such a law would promotes gambling’s negative.
According to Manzo, the difference between putting $20 into a slot machine and between slapping down $20 on a blackjack table is moot.
DeWeese’s proposal was still shocking to many even though a spread in gambling in practice has been predicted ever since the passage in 2004 of the law that allows for as many as 61,000 slot machines within the state.
Up until now, only one of the fourteen slot machine facilities permitted by the law has actually opened.
When told of the proposed casino games legalization draft, Rep. Bill Keller (D., Phila.) was nonplussed. He couldn’t believe that something that he suspected was eventually going to happen was happening so soon.
Those who are permitting casino gambling have said that poker and blackjack are necessary requirements for attracting younger more prosperous gamblers.
He leading proponent of the legalization of slots, Sen. Vincent Fumo (D., Phila.), had predicted that it would take at least a decade for broad scale gambling to reach Philadelphia.
Pennsylvania governor Rendell sees no real hunger for any forms of gambling in the state other than that of slots, according to spokeswoman, Kate Philips, who spoke yesterday.
Democratic representative Keller who represents the Philadelphia area, has said that he would like to carefully study two casinos that have been authorized for Philadelphia might impact the neighborhoods in which they might be located, before he would support the legalization of table games.
Rep. Paul Clymer, who is the leading Republican opponent to the expansion of gambling in the House from Bucks County, encouraged legislators to slow the process down.
Clymer complained that before even examining the effects of the authorized casinos that might ensue after their going online, legislators are ready to consider all forms of gambling.
The legalization of both table games such as blackjack and poker, along with slot machines, is already legal in eleven other states. Other states in the region including West Virginia, Delaware and Rhode Island, have legalized slot machines at race tracks but have gone no further.