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Philadelphia Rep. DeWeese Drafting Bill To Legalize Table Games In Philadelphia
Speaker of the House prospect Rep. Bill DeWeese is in the process of drafting a bill that would legalize poker, blackjack, and a number of other table games in Pennsylvania.
At present, only slot machines are allowed in Pennsylvania's gambling parlors under the law. Nov. 12 signaled the opening of the Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, but since then no other parlor has opened yet.
DeWeese's spokesperson Michael Manzo insisted that the allegations that table games could be more harmful than slots as unfounded.
"There is no practical difference between putting $20 in a slot machine and $20 on a blackjack table," Manzo said.
According to Manzo, legalizing table games in the state would allow Pennsylvania's gambling halls to compete with other states. As a result, the games would generate more money for property tax relief, the very same reason why slot machines were allowed by law in the first place.
"It used to be that slots made up 85 percent of (a casino's) business. But that's no longer the case," Manzo said.
Rep. Paul Clymer, R-Bucks, however advised lawmakers to slow down.
"Without even looking at what the casinos do when they go online, we're ready to push table games," Clymer said.