Looks like table games at Rivers were a hit opening day (Philadelphia: home, buy)

[BrianTH]

Here is an article:

Players line up for opening day of table games at casinos

Of course the real question is how this affects revenues in the long term, since money coming from Rivers is being used for all sorts of public purposes in the Pittsburgh area, and so far revenues from slots alone have been disappointing and may be putting those cash flows in jeopardy.

[Aqua Teen Carl]

That may be the best casino picture ever taken for a newspaper article.

[loose cannon]

I show no enthusiasm about people foolishly wasting their money on this, while the Evil Commonwealth profits off the citizen's vices.

[BrianTH]

I should note that I'm not thrilled with this as a source of public revenues either, although that is a very complex topic.

[Love2Golf09]

I'm not sure if it will last either, but the table games, along with grocery stores starting to sell beer, is a nice step in the right direction.

[airwave09]

Originally Posted by loose cannon

I show no enthusiasm about people foolishly wasting their money on this, while the Evil Commonwealth profits off the citizen's vices.

Do you also show no enthusiasm for people who "waste" their money on sporting events? How about board games? Don't be a hypocrite. People profit off of that stuff as well.

[Doowlle34]

Airwave -- I take your point that individuals are entitled to spend their entertainment dollars as they see fit. Still, fans don't buy tickets to a Steelers game with the expectation that, if the guys pull out a win, everyone goes home with double their ticket price. Continuing on this theme, if you can think of a way for me to profit off of the Pirates losing -- then count me in!

[BrianTH]

I understand that for some people--indeed most people--gambling is just a bit of entertainment. The problem is that among the hardcore regular gamblers--the people who provide the bulk of the revenues to casinos, lotteries, bookies, and so on--it is often something not so harmless (a really ill-conceived personal finance plan, an addiction, or so on).

On the other hand, people will gamble one way or another (particularly on an individual state level, since PA can't keep NY, NJ, WV, OH, and so on from opening casinos). And our political culture makes it very hard to raise necessary public funds in other ways. So I can understand the argument for holding our noses and raising public money off gambling--but it is still a sordid business.

[BrianTH]

Another article (and yes, the P-G had a much better picture):

Wheels spin, cards fly as table games debut in Western Pennsylvania | Philadelphia Inquirer | 07/09/2010

It also touches on the reason why people are hoping table games will add a lot of new revenues, and not just substitute for slots revenues (the demographic is typically different, meaning younger and more male).

[BrianTH]

And a Trib article to round things out:

Table games come to Western Pennsylvania casinos - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

This one touches on how they are really hoping to claw back gambling revenues from other states.