Well, here we are. The Rivers Casino finally making it’s transition to being an actual REAL casino today. All of the tests have gone through and passed, so as of 6AM table games have been in live operation on the North Shore.
I personally don’t know how I feel about this. On one hand, it’s a great boom in revenue, on the other hand, it could likely cause a whole new slew of problems in the area. While I’m still relatively young(24 years old), I have learned that spending an enormous amount of time in a casino is bad news. Especially if you have any type of addiction problem related to gambling. However, when done right, a casino can be a hell of an experience. I guess it’s just more about learning the limits rather than breaking the bank. Anyways, let’s see what the news sites have to say about this Pittsburgh event:
Pennsylvanians who want to play poker, craps and other table games at the state’s slots casinos now have their chance.
The first casinos featuring tables games opened early Thursday morning. Gamblers at the Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh and The Meadows Racetrack & Casino in Washington County crowded in when the doors opened at 6 a.m. Also opening table games Thursday was Presque Isle Downs and Casino in Erie.
Pennsylvania first opened slots casinos in 2006. Last year, Gov. Ed Rendell and top legislators included the legalization of table games as part of a handshake deal to raise more revenue for the recession-battered state treasury. Lawmakers passed the bill in January.
Ok so that wasn’t so much an opinion rather than a statement of information regarding whats’ actually happening in the state of Pennsylvania. Heading on over to the Post-Gazette where it actually has information on what’s happening at The Rivers is kind of awesome:
Eighty people stood in line for the official opening of table games at Rivers Casino at 6 a.m. today, and another 200 playing slot machines pounced once the new section opened.
“Six tables in the poker room were full and people were screaming at the craps table — you couldn’t have written a better script,” said the casino’s general manager, Todd Moyer.
The new offerings at the North Shore casino include 86 table games, including a poker room with 24 tables, blackjack, craps and roulette.
Table games were also being launched this morning at the Meadows Racetrack and Casino in Washington County and at Presque Isle Downs and Casino in Erie.
“I was talking to people, and they were wearing it as a badge of honor to be the first to ever play the tables,” Mr. Moyer said.
Now that’s where I actually have a problem with society. People were lined up and taking it as a badge of honor to lose money? I don’t get that, I suppose I never will really. Here’s where you come in though:
What do you think about table games being at the Rivers Casino? Do you think it will be a good thing for the state? Or do you think it’s a terrible idea. Why do you feel this way? Let me know in the comments and the best comments will be highlighted in a new article tomorrow!
July 8th, 2010 at 10:57 AM
While I think it’s a great idea for the state, I think it’s terrible in terms of family relations around the area. I’m hoping I’m wrong but the statistics prove for basically all Casino’s that divorce rates/crime rates are higher.
I don’t think I’m sure that I want that kind of involvement in the North Shore.
July 8th, 2010 at 12:02 PM
I think it’s a great idea. I don’t believe the hype regarding all those “statistics” Mike talks about.
August 19th, 2010 at 2:17 PM
I love to play table games. I think It’s great! But I have one gripe about the tables there at rivers. There are never any $5 tables. I have a limited amount of expendable income, and some of you might say to not go to the casino if the money is not there. Well the money is there, just not for the $10, $15, and $25 tables. They are excluding a group of people from enjoying the casino. Maybe they have $5 tables, I just haven’t been there at the right time to find them. Has anyone else seen a $5 table there?
Another point I have is that they were committed to having at least one $5 table at all times. What happened to that? You can read the article in the PG. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10075/1043076-28.stm