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W.Va. dog track finally set to launch table games
NITRO, W.Va. (AP) — More than a year after Kanawha County voters approved table games for Tri-State Racetrack & Gaming Center, the Nitro track is poised to start offering poker.
Invitation-only charity poker events were set for Monday and Tuesday nights to benefit the March of Dimes and Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.
The events will test the track’s procedures and security measures while also giving the dealers practice, West Virginia Lottery spokeswoman Nancy Bulla said Monday. Lottery Director John Musgrave will review the security tapes on Wednesday to make sure there were no glitches, she said.
If all goes smoothly, Tri-State could begin offering poker to the public on Thursday.
Track spokeswoman Kim Lawrence says Tri-State will open with 24 poker tables in its Big Easy room and will have another 16 reserve tables for special tournaments.
Ninety-two poker dealers have been hired and the track will have about 250 table games dealers once it begins offering craps, roulette and blackjack, Lawrence said. The track hopes to launch those games by mid-September.
Two other West Virginia tracks — Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack & Resort in Chester and Wheeling Island Hotel-Casino-Racetrack — began offering table games last fall, shortly after voters approved the games in separate countywide referendums.
Tri-State, which won approval for the games last August, has been criticized for delays that included a restructuring of management and facility renovations. Lawrence said the remodeled track and gaming center was “well worth the wait.”
