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Many
Shocked Over Issuance of Slot Machine
License
Many
were surprised that the Pennsylvania
Gaming Control Board decided to award
Pittsburgh’s slot machine license to
PITG Gaming LLC. Many thought that the
slot machine license should have gone to
Isle of Capri Casinos who had offered to
pay for an entirely new arena for the
Pittsburgh Penguins. Don Barden, winner
of the slot machine license and the man
behind PITG Gaming, has only offered to
pay for a portion of the arena, with the
Penguins having to put in some money
themselves.
City
officials are planning on meeting with
the Penguins officials “to remove the
uncertainty” that the team expressed
after the announcement was made
regarding the winner of the slot machine
license. The team was partnered with
Isle of Capri Casinos, one of two other
applicants for the slot machine license.
The city has said that they are “willing
to sit town and negotiate” and that they
have the ability to “sweeten” the deal
for them, now that their partner will
not be bringing in the slot machines nor
building them a new arena.
Don
Barden’s casino was one of 11 companies
that had been vying for the slot machine
license, and won that title after a
yearlong process. Gaming Control Board
Tad Decker said that the seven members
of the board had reached agreement on
the slot machine licenses Tuesday
evening. He said he would not go into
details as to why Barden was chosen for
the slot machine license, but that the
reason for why the board chose one over
the others would be issued in a few
weeks.
Governor Ed Rendell said that Decker had
told him that the Majestic Star was “by
far the best applicant” for the slot
machine license, and that they had the
“best traffic plan.” He also said that
Barden had “practically zero political
connections in Pennsylvania,” so that
must have been a deciding issue for the
board.
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