Nemacolin Withdraws Slot Application 

Nemacolin has withdrawn their application for a slot machine license on the grounds that they and the Pennsylvania Gaming Board do not agree on patron fees. The Board wants the casino to charge $25 to each patron each time they come to play the slot machines. The casino wants to charge $25 a year for the patrons to play the slot machines as a kind of annual membership fee.  As they cannot agree, they cannot pursue the licensing. 

Nemacolin says they think one of the main problems is that when the slot machine bill was written it was not expected to apply to anyone other than the racetracks, and they were not prepared for how it might impact other businesses. Jeff Nobers, a spokesman for Nemacolin, said he likened their attempt to get into the slot machine business to the decision to take on a PGA tour event a few years back. "It was like the golf tournament. Until you really get into something you have never done, you don't understand the depth and breadth and responsibility that arise," Nobers said. 

He said that once the golf tournament was over they went over everything that went wrong, and they will now need to do that with the slot machine licensing. There are only two slot machine resort licenses available in PA, and for awhile there were only two vying for them. With Nemacolin withdrawing, and Seven Springs Mountain Resort in Champion already withdrawn due to a conflict, there is no one left to receive the slot machine license. They were to be awarded on December 20^th.

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