New Gambling Options for West Virginia

Not too long ago many citizens were taken by surprise when the State Senate approved slot machines at the state’s four racetracks. Those four counties then expressed an interest in adding table gaming to their offerings at the racinos—this took the form of bill HB 2718. Most thought that since the slot machines were so controversial, and there was division within the Senate over the issue of just slot machines that there was little chance that they would approve the requested table games.

But just last week the Senate voted to approve adding the table games to the existing racetracks—but they didn’t give the racinos carte blanche approval for the table games. Before the Senate decided to approve the table gaming at slot machines racinos, they did have some revisions to the bill.

Some of the primary changes were made regarding how the additional revenue will be divided. Adding the table games will not affect how the slot machines revenue is disbursed. When the state House approved the table games, they allowed for a large portion of the revenue to go to the track’s purses. The Senate on the other hand favored the cities and counties in West Virginia with a larger portion of the table gaming revenue.

But even with these restrictions n place regarding the revenue, the table games will not necessarily be a part of each racetrack. The decision to add table games resides with the citizens of each of the four affected counties—each county may hold elections.

Part of the reason the Senate revised bill 2718 is due to the way the slot machines bill treated the citizens of West Virginia. That bill allowed a very large portion of the slot machines revenue to go to the racetracks purses rather than to the citizens’ pensions and to the counties operating the slot machines. This time around the Senate was more in tune with what the citizens wanted and made the necessary revisions




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