HARRISBURG:  The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board announced today that the start time for its Wednesday, June 17, 2009 public meeting has been moved up one hour earlier to 10:00 AM.  The meeting remains at the State Museum Auditorium at 303 North Street in Harrisburg.

HARRISBURG: Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Max Baer today said the citizens of the Commonwealth are relying upon the leadership of new Gaming Control Board Chair Gregory C. Fajt to continue the tremendous growth and strict oversight of the new slots casino industry.

Justice Baer made the comments after swearing in Fajt as the third Chairman of the Board at the start of today’s public meeting. Fajt was named Chairman by Governor Edward G. Rendell after serving for the past two years as the Governor’s Chief of Staff. He will serve a three-year term.

HARRISBURG, PA:  The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board today unanimously approved the reinstatement of the gaming license of Mt. Airy Resort Casino principal owner Louis A. DeNaples, but with a number of conditions.

The decision lifts a February 5, 2008 suspension that was placed on DeNaples after criminal charges for perjury were filed against him by the Dauphin County District Attorney. However, those charges were dismissed by the District Attorney on April 17th of this year.

HARRISBURG, PA:  Pennsylvania slot machine casinos, now numbering eight with the recent opening of the Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem, generated $178,415,271 in gross terminal revenue in May of 2009, a 17.9% increase over revenue generated by gaming in May of last year.

HARRISBURG: Gregory C. Fajt will be sworn in and then preside over his first meeting as Chairman of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board on June 3, 2009.

Fajt, who was named Chairman by Governor Edward G. Rendell, will be administered the oath of office by Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Max Baer beginning at 10:00 am.  Justice Baer is also expected to make some remarks.

The meeting, which had previously been scheduled for an 11:00 a.m. start, will remain at the same location, the State Museum Auditorium at 303 North Street in Harrisburg.

BETHLEHEM: Delegations from the Government of Singapore and the State of Kansas are shadowing members of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board’s Casino Opening Team to learn more about how the agency assures that a new casino is prepared to open to the public.

HARRISBURG: Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell said today that outgoing Gaming Control Board Chair Mary DiGiacomo Colins has served with honor and integrity, and that the entire Commonwealth has benefited from her diligent work to both foster the start of the new slot machine industry and develop strict oversight guidelines to protect the interests of the citizens.

HARRISBURG, PA: The amount of gross revenues generated in April 2009 through the play of slot machines at the seven casinos rose 13.76% over the previous year, according to figures released today by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.

The seven casinos in April 2009 generated $150,658,363 in gross revenues compared to $132,433,621 in April 2008. Tax collections by the Commonwealth on that amount last month were $82,862,100, an average of $2.76 million per day. The casinos’ collective take of the gross revenues for the month was $67,796,263.

HARRISBURG: Nanette Horner, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board’s Director of Compulsive and Problem Gambling, has been chosen to participate on a new advisory board to the National Center for Responsible Gaming’s (NCRG) Annual Conference on Gambling and Addiction.

Gaming Control Board Chairman Mary DiGiacomo Colins says Horner’s participation in this important advisory board falls in lockstep with a chief goal of this agency.

HARRISBURG: The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board today released the second Pari-Mutuel Wagering Benchmark Report to detail the impact of slot machine play on the pari-mutuel industry in Pennsylvania.

The report compares the status of pari-mutuel wagering for the years of 2006, 2007 and 2008. It focuses on revenue from slots play and the various indicators of pari-mutuel health such as racing days, purse amounts, racing handle (the total amount wagered by patrons) and the export of live racing signals to other properties both inside and outside Pennsylvania.