Good news for West Virginia players [Archive]

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Artsemis

11-29-2006, 01:58 AM

http://www.wvgazette.com/section/News/2006112723?pt=10

IceColdAces

11-29-2006, 02:22 AM

Bad link...summary?

DrewOnTilt

11-29-2006, 02:24 AM

Thanks artsemis but next time post the article instead of a link to a site that requires registration. Most people won't bother to register.

[ QUOTE ]

Games would aid seniors

By Phil Kabler
Staff writer

If the Legislature legalizes table gambling at the state’s four racetracks next year, some of the proceeds should go to help senior citizens stay in their homes, Gov. Joe Manchin said Monday.

“If it is the will of the Legislature to allow local option elections for table games, part of that revenue should be devoted to in-home care,” Manchin said.

The governor also defended his decision to allow the state’s gasoline tax to increase next year.
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The state’s gambling industry has promised to try to get table games legalized during the Legislature’s regular session, which begins in January.

Their proposal would allow voters in the four counties that have racetracks — Kanawha, Ohio, Hancock and Jefferson — to decide whether to allow table games. The “local option” bill passed the state Senate last year but died in the House of Delegates when Democratic leaders decided their members did not want to vote on the bill, especially in an election year.

Gambling lobbyists are touting a survey that shows a majority of state voters are in favor of local option elections. Opponents of table games say that all state voters should be allowed to decide, not just those in racetrack counties.

On Monday, Manchin said he probably would sign a table games bill that includes a local option election — a position he has held consistently.

He added the idea that some of the racetrack money should go to help keep senior citizens out of nursing homes and in their own homes.

The Manchin administration faced widespread criticism earlier this year for changing the eligibility rules for who qualifies for in-home care. Hundreds of seniors were kicked off the program.

In October, Manchin reinstated all the seniors who had lost their services and announced that the state would return to the less stringent eligibility standards. On Monday, the governor said he had always been in favor of in-home care for seniors.

Manchin also defended a decision to allow the state’s gasoline tax to rise next year.

Last year, gasoline taxes were set to increase because the price of gasoline skyrocketed after Hurricane Katrina, and part of the state’s gas tax is tied to the wholesale price of gas.

Manchin froze the gas tax with an emergency order. That saved consumers more than $50 million, but cost the road fund an equal amount.
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Now, the emergency is over and the state needs the money to maintain roads, he said.

Manchin also announced $2 million in recycling grants through the Rehabilitation Environmental Action Plan program, or REAP. Manchin reconstituted the program last year that was started by his late uncle A. James Manchin to remove junked cars from the landscape.

Manchin said he has told local communities to clean up their act, literally, if they expect to receive state funding for economic development.

“It’s the best investment the state of West Virginia makes,” he said.

To contact staff writer Scott Finn, use e-mail or call 357-4323.

[/ QUOTE ]

MiltonFriedman

11-29-2006, 03:55 AM

Good news for West Virginia players .... both of them.

mc619pgh

11-29-2006, 04:40 AM

about time! I live in Pittsburgh and always wanted to go down to Mountaineer to gamble. Thanks for the post!

5thStreetHog

11-29-2006, 04:56 AM

[ QUOTE ]
about time! I live in Pittsburgh and always wanted to go down to Mountaineer to gamble. Thanks for the post!

[/ QUOTE ]Sweet.Now if they just would consider this with the new casinos that are being built in Pa.(esp in pittsburgh /images/graemlins/grin.gif) id be happy.

pa3lsvt

11-29-2006, 06:29 AM

Coy_Roy

11-29-2006, 08:57 AM

Charlestown Racetrack would be the new preferred location to play poker for the entire DC metro area.

1 hour drive as opposed to 3.5 hours for Atlantic City.

Berge20

11-29-2006, 02:12 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Thanks artsemis but next time post the article instead of a link to a site that requires registration. Most people won't bother to register.

[/ QUOTE ]

No, please do not post the entire article. It is against 2+2 policies to do so.

I always suggest leaving a link and pulling a paragraph or two out that summarizes it well.

5thStreetHog

11-29-2006, 08:17 PM

Thanks for the link Pa3,that got me geeked that the idea looks to be picking up some momentum.Very positive.Only this annoyed me lol "Gov. Rendell believes that there is "not an appetite" in the state for gambling beyond slots, his spokeswoman, Kate Philips, said yesterday." This idiot really has his finger on the pulse of the people i must say.(The people over 85 years old)

goldtoes

11-29-2006, 08:34 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Charlestown Racetrack would be the new preferred location to play poker for the entire DC metro area.

1 hour drive as opposed to 3.5 hours for Atlantic City.

[/ QUOTE ]

Aye, quick question though for anyone that might know...

Charlestown is currently 18+. If they got table games, would the age requirement change or stay the same?

I am not quite sure where they come up with the age limit, so feel free to inform me please.

Thanks in advance.

Jeffage

11-29-2006, 11:02 PM

If they can do this and spread mid and high limit poker, I will be happy indeed.

Jeff

frommagio

11-29-2006, 11:24 PM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
about time! I live in Pittsburgh and always wanted to go down to Mountaineer to gamble. Thanks for the post!

[/ QUOTE ]Sweet.Now if they just would consider this with the new casinos that are being built in Pa.(esp in pittsburgh /images/graemlins/grin.gif) id be happy.

[/ QUOTE ]

Although Gov Rendell doesn't get it, he's inadvertently helping the poker players of PA while screwing his own state out of gambling dollars! The fact that slots (and only slots) will soon be available in PA is part of the underlying impetus for WV to make this move to table games.

See this link (http://www.wboy.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=12496&catid=46), for example; the story is about a downgrade in Wheeling Down's credit rating due to coming competition from PA slots.

As a fellow Pittsburgher, I'm annoyed that our state is always a decade or two behind the times. But for poker players, this looks like the next best thing that could happen. Right now, the closest option (Allagany Seneca in NY) is an irritating 200 miles away. Wheeling Downs is about 60.

A small quote:

"Sixty percent of our business resides in the Pittsburgh market, and they drive past The Meadows to get to us," Marshall said. "We've been preparing for it by training our employees on new service standards and by constantly improving the amenities we now offer with the restaurants and with our hotel.

"But we have also projected that if we are permitted to expand with table games, we could maintain the same level of revenue while adding good-paying jobs and making another $40 million investment in our facility by adding a second tower of hotel rooms," he continued. "But without the Legislature and the voters in Ohio County approving of that expansion, we can't do that. It wouldn't make sense, and that's what the downgraded credit rating is all about."

This PA resident can't wait to drive past the Meadows on the way to the poker tables at Wheeling Downs! And I like dog races more than the ponies anyway.

frommagio

11-29-2006, 11:47 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Thanks for the link Pa3,that got me geeked that the idea looks to be picking up some momentum.Very positive.Only this annoyed me lol "Gov. Rendell believes that there is "not an appetite" in the state for gambling beyond slots, his spokeswoman, Kate Philips, said yesterday." This idiot really has his finger on the pulse of the people i must say.(The people over 85 years old)

[/ QUOTE ]

Pa3, my thanks as well for the link; this is the first I've heard of it. History in PA shows that this will probably take at minimum several years to get through (slot machines have been imminent for 3 years now), but just the fact that PA is talking about it will really light a fire under WV.

And if we could get *both* - wow! What can I say, competition can only be good for the players.

Oh wow, check out this quote - this is really, really excellent:

"The goal of the bill would be to have all 14 licensees become eligible for table games to ward off competition from surrounding states, such as West Virginia, which are considering expanding from slot machines to full casino gambling."

frommagio

11-30-2006, 12:02 AM

Artsemis, the counties mentioned in this article (Kanawha, Ohio, Hancock and Jefferson ) are in the NE WV, NW WV, and central/South WV - meaning that this is also good news for Maryland, Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky and even (a little stretch) parts of NC and TN!

For too long we've been an underserved area.

Artsemis

11-30-2006, 02:18 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Thanks artsemis but next time post the article instead of a link to a site that requires registration. Most people won't bother to register.

[/ QUOTE ]

Neither did I, link worked directly for me :/

[ QUOTE ]
Artsemis, the counties mentioned in this article (Kanawha, Ohio, Hancock and Jefferson ) are in the NE WV, NW WV, and central/South WV - meaning that this is also good news for Maryland, Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky and even (a little stretch) parts of NC and TN!

[/ QUOTE ]

Very good point /images/graemlins/smile.gif

Coy_Roy

11-30-2006, 06:16 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Charlestown Racetrack would be the new preferred location to play poker for the entire DC metro area.

1 hour drive as opposed to 3.5 hours for Atlantic City.

[/ QUOTE ]

This may also be the final straw that would cause the collapse of Maryland Horseracing.................they can't even get slots.

NickMPK

12-01-2006, 10:23 AM

I don't see anything in the article that is different than what people have been saying about the prospect of WV table games for the past two years. If they do finally approve table games, it will be because they see customers leaving due to PA slots, but the article doesn't really talk about that.

Also, Maryland is actually much more likely to get slots this year than they were last year because of the new Democratic Governor, and the big projected budget shortfall for the next few year. O'Malley is not quite as pro-slots as Ehrlich was, but he's much more likely to be able to get his agenda passed in the legislature.

Nepa

12-04-2006, 10:23 PM

I was just reading that Ed Rendell is not even thinking about the table games idea yet but if Pennsylvania legalizes table games I believe that Delaware will legalize sports betting and Maryland will legalize slots and possibility table games. In about 3 years poker could be legal a lot more places in the northeast.

Del. slot casinos start to feel the squeeze (http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061203/NEWS/612030334/-1/NEWS01)