Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board

THE REGION'S spring 2012 gambling calendar has added another red-letter date. Yesterday, it was announced that Valley Forge Casino Resort will open its doors sometime during the second quarter of next year. Already on the books for May are the grand openings of Revel, the $2 billion-plus mega-resort on Atlantic City's Boardwalk, and the debut of a multipurpose entertainment and exhibition hall at Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem that will allow that property to compete with Atlantic City for A-list headliners.

At the seventh annual Pennsylvania Gaming Congress, the executive director for the City Planning Commission praised how smoothly things have gone with the city's only casino to date, SugarHouse, on the Penn's Landing waterfront, and he steered clear of any discussion of Foxwoods' revoked license to build a second gambling hall here. Alan Greenberger said SugarHouse followed the steps to creating a successful casino in an urban environment. He said the casino's management had created relationships with the local neighborhood groups, brought on top consultants to mitigate issues, such as traffic, hired a vast majority of its workforce from the nearby area, and invested in the community.

HARRISBURG - The powerful board that regulates Pennsylvania's nearly $3 billion casino industry took a hit after a grand jury report questioned whether it was too cozy with the gambling operators it was supposed to regulate and less interested with protecting the public's welfare than in boosting casino profits. The scathing 102-page report by the state attorney general, released in late May, criticized the board's use of secret meetings and suggested the agency awarded licenses to unsuitable applicants and withheld critical information that deemed them as such.

Three Philadelphia-area casinos ranked in the top 5 among the state's 10 gambling halls in table games revenue last month, according to figures released Monday by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. The three venues - Parx in Bensalem, Harrah's in Chester and SugarHouse on the Philadelphia waterfront - accounted for nearly 45 percent of May's $51.4 million in total table games revenue. Parx, which opened a $3 million high limit room last week to court high rollers and added more blackjack, poker, craps and baccarat tables to push its total to about 200, led the pack with $9.8 million in table games revenue last month.

Pennsylvania State Treasurer Rob McCord filed a brief in his lawsuit against the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board today. McCord sued the state gambling board on May 11, claiming it was intentionally keeping him out of its closed-door executive sessions and refusing to share confidential information. On Aug. 5, the gaming board filed a response, arguing to keep McCord out of such meetings and throw out the case. McCord's brief reiterates the merits of his case and for the court not to throw it out, McCord's senior adviser, Corinna V. Wilson, indicated today.

April slots revenue at Pennsylvania's 11 casinos rose 1.3 percent to $214.1 million from a year ago, thanks largely to the opening of Valley Forge Casino Resort on March 31. Excluding the new casino in King of Prussia, slot revenue would have been down 0.6 percent year-over-year, but last month also had one less Friday and one less Saturday than April 2011. SugarHouse, on Penn's Landing, had the highest growth percentage, up 7.5 percent last month from last year, while Harrah's Chester — which is being renamed Harrah's Philadelphia — posted the largest decrease at 7.6 percent, according to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, which released the figures Wednesday.

PENNSYLVANIA'S 11 casinos pulled in more than $233.1 million in gross slot-machine revenue last month, setting an all-time monthly high since the state's first casino opened in November 2006 and cementing the state's status as the nation's second-largest gambling market. The slots totals released Tuesday by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board include revenue from two test nights and one day of operations at the state's 11th casino, Valley Forge Casino Resort, which opened Saturday.

GETTYSBURG - Civil War preservationists are retrenching for another battle four years after defeating a proposal to build a casino near Gettysburg's historic site. Casino principals, supports and opponents will speak Tuesday in a public meeting with state regulators who are considering the license application. Developer David LeVan is a noted local philanthropist and former Conrail chairman. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board rejected his first plan in 2006 amid an outcry that gambling would sully the character of the battlefield considered by many to be the war's turning point.

Commonwealth Court has denied a request from an investor group in the derailed Foxwoods casino project to delay for 60 days a hearing on the loss of the project's gaming license. Three investors who have taken over management of the project had wanted to hold off on a hearing, arguing that they wanted more time to try to negotiate with gaming regulators. In a filing last week, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board rejected the suggestion that a negotiated settlement could be possible.

HARRISBURG, Pa. - A Pennsylvania appellate court panel is backing state gambling regulators' decision to revoke the license of the long-stalled Foxwoods Philadelphia Casino project. The state Commonwealth Court released its 6-1 decision Thursday to uphold the revocation by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. The agency's board members voted in December to revoke the license it initially awarded in 2006, prompting the casino investors to appeal to Commonwealth Court. It was the first time the gaming board had revoked a $50 million casino license in its history.

April slots revenue at Pennsylvania's 11 casinos rose 1.3 percent to $214.1 million from a year ago, thanks largely to the opening of Valley Forge Casino Resort on March 31. Excluding the new casino in King of Prussia, slot revenue would have been down 0.6 percent year-over-year, but last month also had one less Friday and one less Saturday than April 2011. SugarHouse, on Penn's Landing, had the highest growth percentage, up 7.5 percent last month from last year, while Harrah's Chester — which is being renamed Harrah's Philadelphia — posted the largest decrease at 7.6 percent, according to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, which released the figures Wednesday.

PENNSYLVANIA'S 11 casinos pulled in more than $233.1 million in gross slot-machine revenue last month, setting an all-time monthly high since the state's first casino opened in November 2006 and cementing the state's status as the nation's second-largest gambling market. The slots totals released Tuesday by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board include revenue from two test nights and one day of operations at the state's 11th casino, Valley Forge Casino Resort, which opened Saturday.

Slot machines at Pennsylvania's 10 casinos generated $190.5 million in gross revenue last month, up 7.4 percent from January 2011, according to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. The board said it was the 11th time in the last 12 months that slots revenue showed a year-over-year increase. Leading the pack was Parx in Bensalem, which generated $31.6 million, up 8.8 percent from a year ago; Sands Bethlehem Casino came second at $22.5 million, up 13.6 percent; and Rivers in Pittsburgh rounded out the Top 3 with $21.9 million, up 8.4 percent.

The $132.5 million Valley Forge Casino Resort is on target to open this spring, president and chief executive officer Sal Scheri told members of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board on Wednesday. "Construction is progressing on schedule, and we're excited to see the casino start to take shape," Scheri said. The assurance was part of his team's petition to the gaming board for a license to install table games at the new facility - which the hearing in King of Prussia centered on. Under the state's gambling law, the Montgomery County casino will be allowed up to 600 slot machines.

HARRISBURG, Pa. - A Pennsylvania appellate court panel is backing state gambling regulators' decision to revoke the license of the long-stalled Foxwoods Philadelphia Casino project. The state Commonwealth Court released its 6-1 decision Thursday to uphold the revocation by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. The agency's board members voted in December to revoke the license it initially awarded in 2006, prompting the casino investors to appeal to Commonwealth Court. It was the first time the gaming board had revoked a $50 million casino license in its history.

Legislation that for the first time would allow the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board to assess fines against a casino for failing to report an incident of child abandonment on its premises or for failing to post signs warning of the legal ramifications of such behavior passed a House committee Wednesday in Harrisburg. Both bills, sponsored by Rep. Michael O'Brien (D., Philadelphia), received unanimous support in the House Gaming Oversight Committee and now advance to a floor vote.

ATLANTIC CITY - The Tropicana Casino here is taking a gamble by putting slot machines and electronic table games in its popular retail and entertainment mall, the Quarter. The move to place gaming devices in a nongambling area of the casino typically reserved for something else is a first at the struggling resort, according to the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, which approved the test phase in mid-August. It takes mixing retail, dining, entertainment, and gambling to the next level.

Asked to revise a little-noticed statute that the Montgomery County commissioners say robs them of their share of state gaming money, lawmakers in Harrisburg have so far overwhelmingly offered one response: Don't bet on it. "As of now, there really is not much we can do," wrote State Rep. Robert W. Godshall (R., Montgomery) in a recent letter to county officials. His response came days after the commissioners sent their own missive to the county's 23-member delegation in Harrisburg, pleading for help to change the law they blame for cutting the county out of proceeds other counties receive for hosting casinos within their borders.

By Mark E. Dixon My family is fortunate. My wife and I are both working. Our income is higher than that of 93 percent of Americans. The mortgage is paid. We live in one of the country's best school districts. There is money to put our daughters through college. We get chirpy regular reports from our investment manager. We vacationed in Europe this summer. Life is good. So why is Pennsylvania taking money from less affluent residents to give the Dixons a break on our property taxes?