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Table Games To Be Proposed In Pennsylvania Under DeWeeses Expanded Gambling Legislation

Pennsylvania State House minority leader Rep. Bill DeWeese (D., Greene) is set to introduce legislation that if passed, would legalize poker, blackjack and other table games in casinos.

At present, only slots are allowed in Pennsylvania. The new law would turn planned state parlors into full-blown casinos.

Michael Manzo, DeWeese's chief of staff, said that the particulars of the bill are still being studied. He said a question on the table was whether to let local municipalities decide if slots casinos should have table games.

"We have a ways to go" Manzo said on the issue of drafting the final legislation.

"There is a question whether or not we want to do it through a local referendum," Manzo added.

One of the primary goals of the bill is to ward off competition from surrounding states.

"It used to be that slots made up 85 percent of [a casino's] business. But that's no longer the case anymore," Manzo said. "We can generate significantly more dollars for property taxes."

"There is no practical difference between putting $20 in a slot machine and putting $20 on a blackjack table," Manzo said, defending the move. Proponents of gambling said that poker and blackjack are two of the games necessary to bring in younger and more affluent gamblers in the state.

But some are urging the lawmakers to proceed with caution. Rep. Paul Clymer of Bucks County, the House's leading opponent of expanded gambling said: "Without even looking at what the casinos do when they go online, we're ready to push table games."