PA Construction on Hold

Pennsylvania passed a law that legalized slot machine gambling in 2004, but you wouldn’t know it from the looks of the state. Not a slot machine in sight and it has been two years – what gives? It seems that there has been a large amount of red tape to come along with those slot machines, and legislators have been bouncing the law back and forth trying to please everyone before they actually allow the slot machines to start running. 

However, while they have been bouncing the law around, those that are seeking the slot machine licenses have major construction to do on their properties before they will be ready to bring in the slot machines. They can’t start that construction until the licenses are approved, because they could be out of a lot of capital if it never happens. So although legislators were thinking that it wouldn’t take much for them to get ready, they thought that they would actually start with the construction while they waited for their licenses. This was not to be the case, so until they have definite licenses in their hands, many of them are not going ahead – which leaves a lot of lag time when slot machine licenses are actually approved. It will be months before there are any actual slot machines that you can play.  

With the way the PA Board handled the slot machine approval, many were hesitant – especially since they didn’t even get the go ahead to order the actual slot machines until last month. Pocono Downs near Wilkes-Barre, is expected to be the first open, with the others falling in behind somewhere over the course of the year.

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