Poker starts tonight with charity games at Tri-State

NITRO -- After more than a year of delays, the cards will finally be dealt at Tri-State Racetrack & Gaming Center in Nitro.

Practice runs for new poker dealers will take place at charity events tonight and Tuesday.

The proceeds benefit the March of Dimes and Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

Both events are by invitation only, said state Lottery spokeswoman Nancy Bulla.

The process is the same as was the case with the two racetracks in the Northern Panhandle before they started offering poker to the general public.

Bulla said the charity events are designed to test how secure the games are being run by racetrack officials.

After the two charity nights - which run from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. in The Big Easy Poker Room - state Lottery officials will review all actions by Tri-State to make sure everything's on the up and up.

If state Lottery Director John Musgrave is satisfied, the racetrack will be allowed to offer poker to the general public beginning on Thursday, Bulla said.

Bulla said the reason the events are by invitation only is to limit the number of participants. Bulla did not know how many people the racetrack invited.

Nor did she know how many people came to charity events at Mountaineer Casino Racetrack and Resort in Hancock County and Wheeling Island Racetrack and Gaming Center in Ohio County.

Both of those tracks have been offering poker since last year. Bulla said trial periods at both racetracks went smoothly.

Voters in three West Virginia counties - Hancock, Ohio and Kanawha - approved referendums last year that cleared the way for the racetracks located there to offer table games. Lawmakers authorized the referendum elections during the 2007 regular session.

NITRO -- After more than a year of delays, the cards will finally be dealt at Tri-State Racetrack & Gaming Center in Nitro.

Practice runs for new poker dealers will take place at charity events tonight and Tuesday.

The proceeds benefit the March of Dimes and Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

Both events are by invitation only, said state Lottery spokeswoman Nancy Bulla.

The process is the same as was the case with the two racetracks in the Northern Panhandle before they started offering poker to the general public.

Bulla said the charity events are designed to test how secure the games are being run by racetrack officials.

After the two charity nights - which run from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. in The Big Easy Poker Room - state Lottery officials will review all actions by Tri-State to make sure everything's on the up and up.

If state Lottery Director John Musgrave is satisfied, the racetrack will be allowed to offer poker to the general public beginning on Thursday, Bulla said.

Bulla said the reason the events are by invitation only is to limit the number of participants. Bulla did not know how many people the racetrack invited.

Nor did she know how many people came to charity events at Mountaineer Casino Racetrack and Resort in Hancock County and Wheeling Island Racetrack and Gaming Center in Ohio County.

Both of those tracks have been offering poker since last year. Bulla said trial periods at both racetracks went smoothly.

Voters in three West Virginia counties - Hancock, Ohio and Kanawha - approved referendums last year that cleared the way for the racetracks located there to offer table games. Lawmakers authorized the referendum elections during the 2007 regular session.

Tri-State bought its $1.5 million partial-year table games license back in July. The other tracks bought theirs last year.

Bulla said that if everything goes well at Tri-State, officials there could begin offering other table games - like roulette and blackjack - by the end of the month.

Rich Tesler, Tri-State's casino director, and racetrack spokeswoman Kim Lawrence, did not return telephone calls.

Security officers and auditors from the state Lottery will be on hand for the charity events at Tri-State to observe operations, Bulla said.

If games begin by Thursday, auditors will no longer be on site, but Lottery security officers will remain.

Tri-State officials, in wooing voters to approve the table games referendum, promised to conduct a $250 million expansion at the racetrack site - complete with a new hotel and an entertainment complex.

Racetrack officials recently found themselves reaffirming that promise to members of the Kanawha County Commission because of little apparent movement on the expansion project.

Dan Adkins, vice president of Michigan-based Hartman & Tyner, the parent company of Tri-State, assured commissioners that they will make good on the promised improvements, which are supposed to come with 1,000 jobs.

"We are committed to the people of this community," Adkins told the commission last week. "I will not let you down."

Nitro Mayor Rusty Casto said he wasn't invited to either of the charity events. He said he opposes gambling and wouldn't go anyway.

He said the city isn't getting too excited about any major increase in gambling revenues when the table games are operational.

"This is what the people voted for, so let the games begin," Casto said today. "I wish them the best in their endeavor and hopefully it will be a win for both sides."

Tri-State bought its $1.5 million partial-year table games license back in July. The other tracks bought theirs last year.

Bulla said that if everything goes well at Tri-State, officials there could begin offering other table games - like roulette and blackjack - by the end of the month.

Rich Tesler, Tri-State's casino director, and racetrack spokeswoman Kim Lawrence, did not return telephone calls.

Security officers and auditors from the state Lottery will be on hand for the charity events at Tri-State to observe operations, Bulla said.

If games begin by Thursday, auditors will no longer be on site, but Lottery security officers will remain.

Tri-State officials, in wooing voters to approve the table games referendum, promised to conduct a $250 million expansion at the racetrack site - complete with a new hotel and an entertainment complex.

Racetrack officials recently found themselves reaffirming that promise to members of the Kanawha County Commission because of little apparent movement on the expansion project.

Dan Adkins, vice president of Michigan-based Hartman & Tyner, the parent company of Tri-State, assured commissioners that they will make good on the promised improvements, which are supposed to come with 1,000 jobs.

"We are committed to the people of this community," Adkins told the commission last week. "I will not let you down."

Nitro Mayor Rusty Casto said he wasn't invited to either of the charity events. He said he opposes gambling and wouldn't go anyway.

He said the city isn't getting too excited about any major increase in gambling revenues when the table games are operational.

"This is what the people voted for, so let the games begin," Casto said today. "I wish them the best in their endeavor and hopefully it will be a win for both sides."


Charleston Daily Mail

News Added: 18 August, 2008

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