Gambling Network in Works for Pennsylvania Taverns?
A lot is on the line in Pennsylvania Gov. Rendell's proposal this week to legalize video poker gambling at bars and nightclubs across Pennsylvania.
The Pennsylvania State Police that that seventeen thousand illegal poker machines are currently in use - each taking in about six hundred dollars a week.
"Machines receiving heavy play can generate $800 or more per week," said Jack J. Lewis, a state police spokesman. "We estimate that a club having five machines . . . can easily generate over $31,000 per year in profits."
It is estimated that about thirty five thousand machines eventually might be set up in eighty five licensed liquor establishments creating a large gambling network.
"You take one step, and now you are all the way down to putting them in taverns - boom, boom, boom," said Jack Bulavsky, former executive director of the Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers.
"As the governor said, [tavern gambling] has been going on in Pennsylvania for many, many years," said Amy Christie, the association's executive director. "The issue right now is that it's totally unregulated."
"If you're talking about regulating what's already there, that's one thing," said Kevin Feeley, spokesman for the Mount Airy Casino Resort in the Poconos and a long-time Rendell ally. "But if you're talking about a wholesale expansion of video poker, that will be a subject of concern."
Captain Tom Butler of the Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement said video poker is most active in Western Pennsylvania, especially in social clubs, which often use it for fund-raising.
"There is not a criminal investigation unless there is an extraordinary circumstance," he said.
In some jurisdictions, district attorneys have been aggressive.
The Pennsylvania State Police that that seventeen thousand illegal poker machines are currently in use - each taking in about six hundred dollars a week.
"Machines receiving heavy play can generate $800 or more per week," said Jack J. Lewis, a state police spokesman. "We estimate that a club having five machines . . . can easily generate over $31,000 per year in profits."
It is estimated that about thirty five thousand machines eventually might be set up in eighty five licensed liquor establishments creating a large gambling network.
"You take one step, and now you are all the way down to putting them in taverns - boom, boom, boom," said Jack Bulavsky, former executive director of the Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers.
"As the governor said, [tavern gambling] has been going on in Pennsylvania for many, many years," said Amy Christie, the association's executive director. "The issue right now is that it's totally unregulated."
"If you're talking about regulating what's already there, that's one thing," said Kevin Feeley, spokesman for the Mount Airy Casino Resort in the Poconos and a long-time Rendell ally. "But if you're talking about a wholesale expansion of video poker, that will be a subject of concern."
Captain Tom Butler of the Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement said video poker is most active in Western Pennsylvania, especially in social clubs, which often use it for fund-raising.
"There is not a criminal investigation unless there is an extraordinary circumstance," he said.
In some jurisdictions, district attorneys have been aggressive.
Labels: Gambling Network
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