On August 18th, 2008, more than a year after the voters in Kanawha County gave their approval for casino table games for Tri-State Racetrack and Gambling Center, the Nitro Racing Track is scheduled to start offering poker. Invitation-only charity poker gatherings were set on Monday and Tuesday nights to mainly benefit the March of Dimes and the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.
The spokeswoman for the West Virginia Lottery Nancy Bulla said that the two events will test the readiness of the track's procedures and security while also giving dealers the opportunity to practice what they have learn in a full table. She added that Lottery Director John Musgrave will review the security tapes to make sure that there will be no problems. If all goes well, Tri-State could immediately begin offering poker to its customers as soon as possible.
Tri-State racing track spokesperson Kim Lawrence commented that Tri-State will open with twenty-four poker tables in its Big Easy room and will have another sixteen poker tables reserve for tournaments. Around 92 poker dealers have been hired by the racing track and Tri State will have a total of 250 casino table games dealers once it starts offering craps, roulette bad blackjack. The racing track hopes to launch the additional games by mid-September.
Two other West Virginia racing tracks-Mountaineer Casino, Racing track and Resort in Chester and Wheeling Island Hotel Casino and Racing Track-started offering casino table games last fall, after voters approved the casino games in separate countrywide referendums. Tri-State, which received the approval for the casino table games last August, has been criticized for delays that included a restructuring of the management of the casino and facility renovations. Lawrence commented that remodeling the racetrack and gaming center was worth the wait.
08/31/2008 05:52 PM