Table games bill passes, signed by governor

Jan 28, 2010 — Dover Post

Doug Denison

Dover, Del. -

Gov. Jack Markell today signed legislation legalizing table games at Delaware's three casinos, a process that began last year when the General Assembly began considering the reintroduction of sports betting in the state.

After passing the House last week and breezing through a Senate committee hearing Jan. 27, the bill passed the upper chamber of the legislature with a vote of 15-4. Two senators abstained from the vote for perceived conflicts of interest.

The governor signed the bill in his Legislative Hall office a short time later.

Dover Downs Hotel & Casino CEO Ed Sutor said his facility is ready to spend $4.5 million on improvements to his facility and another $1 million on pre-opening expenses related to supplies and personnel.

Sutor also said Dover Downs will begin by hiring a director of table games operations and five or six "shift bosses," who will oversee the pit bosses and dealers, to be hired later.

The director and the shift bosses will then begin training prospective dealers in a 16-week table gaming program administered in cooperation with Delaware Technical and Community College.

In the end, Sutor said Dover Downs will hire approximately 200 people to support the new table gaming enterprise.

The state's other casinos, Delaware Park and Harrington Raceway and Casino, say they'll also spend upwards of $5 million on their table game retrofits and hire anywhere from 200 to 300 workers.

Sutor said it's vital that he and his counterparts get rolling on table games immediately, if they want to be up and running before their competitors in Pennsylvania, where table games were legalized Jan. 7.

"I think with us getting a head start we'll get a better table games director, better shift managers and we'll get the equipment faster," he said.

The equipment is an important piece, he added, since the handful of companies that produce table games equipment and supplies could get backed up if Pennsylvania venues get their orders in first.

Table games are projected to bring $40.5 million to the state's budget, which represents a 29.4% revenue split. The casinos will get 66.1% of the proceeds and the state's horse racing organizations will get 4.5% for race purses.