Plans approved for casino poker in selected counties
Wednesday 15th August 2007
Voters in the American state of West Virginia have approved plans for the game of poker to be included in the selection offered at casinos in two of its 55 counties.
A referendum legalising table games including poker has been endorsed by voters in Ohio and Hancock counties with a recount underway in Kanawha County after the final outcome was too close to call.
The voters in Ohio and Hancock counties approved a measure to allow table games to be added to the casinos and racetracks that already existed by a margin of nearly two-to-one while voters in Jefferson County rejected the measure, leaving its lone casino, Charles Town Races And Slots, with only slots and dogs.
Hancock County is located in the far north of the State and has Mountaineer Racetrack. Its owner, Ted Arneault, said that his site already had plans to take advantage of the voters decision and lure tourists from the nearby states of Ohio and Pennsylvania.
“It’s a watershed moment for Hancock County in that we will bring in the jobs, we will bring in the people and we will bring in the economic development,” said Arneault.
Arneault stated that he plans to use the 2,000 acres around his site to create a ‘destination’ area and also plans to begin hiring 700 additional employees. His scheme should see the Mountaineer install 90 table games with about half being poker tables.
“People will really find it is about the jobs,” said Arneault. “Now we will do everything that we have talked about. Everything we said is going to be real.”
