Voters Approve Poker Gambling in West Virginia
...vote in Hancock County before a crowd of hundreds of Mountaineer employees last Saturday night.The measure passed by a landslide -- 59 percent to 41 percent, according to county election officials. Saturday’s unofficial vote count was 5,021 votes for the referendum and 3,506 against.
“Now, the work begins," said Arneault. "We’re ready to rock and roll."
The measure passed decisively in all but one of the county’s 28 precincts.
“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.
Gambling Tourism
Mountaineer’s plans to use the 2,000 acres it to create a gambling tourism "destination" area, and also plans to begin hiring 700 additional employees this week.The casino plans to install 90 table games, with about half of those to be poker tables. Instructors have been trained by West Virginia Northern Community College, which also is training workers for Wheeling Island Racetrack and Gaming Center.
Earlier, Ohio County voters approved table games for Wheeling Island.
The campaign to expand table gaming was led by the track’s public relations director, Tamara Petit, a former state senator, who kept track of the running vote totals.
Poker tables will be running in the fall with the other table games to follow by the end of the year. Mountaineer’s direct investment in table games will be about $10 million.
Direct employment at Mountaineer, not counting the thoroughbred track’s back-side employees, will stand at about 2,100 after the additional table gaming employees are on the payroll.
The new employees are expected to earn wages in the mid-$30,000 range, based on expectations of the profits from the gaming tables.
Tourism plans to be worked with partners or developers include a links-style pro golf course to be developed in an old stone quarry south of the current resort, as well as upscale housing, an historic restaurant and brew pub.
“People will really find it is about the jobs,” Arneault said. “Now, we will do everything that we have talked about. “Everything we said is going to be real.”
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