Expected soon at Harrah's Chester and every other gambling hall in the state is regulatory approval from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board - the "final green light," as casino operators call it - to begin offering blackjack, baccarat, pai gow, and more.
"The board continues to work internally and with the casinos on a goal to implement table games soon after the July Fourth holiday," gaming board spokesman Doug Harbach said Monday. "It is anticipated that, combined, they will offer almost 700 tables of banked and non-banked games."
To oversee the new attractions, the gaming board has hired additional on-site regulators.
So far, 10 Pennsylvania casinos have paid the $16.5 million fee to put table games in play: Harrah's Chester; Parx in Bensalem; Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs in Wilkes-Barre; Hollywood Casino near Harrisburg; Presque Isle Downs in Erie; Mount Airy Casino Resort in the Poconos; the Sands in Bethlehem; the Rivers in Pittsburgh; The Meadows, 15 miles south of Pittsburgh; and the SugarHouse, currently under construction on the Philadelphia waterfront.
Over the next week, The Meadows will have all 68 of its table games delivered, said casino spokesman David La Torre. On Friday, its 302 dealer trainees will graduate.
Tuesday morning, 72 table games, including 44 blackjack tables, are scheduled for delivery to Mount Airy.
Vince Donlevie, Harrah's Chester senior vice president and general manager, said about 500 new dealers are wrapping up their remaining weeks of training. Still being hired are supervisory positions - people with at least two years of table games' experience.
