10/18/07

FOR RELEASE: IMMEDIATE
CONTACT: TAMARA PETTIT
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC RELATIONS
304-387-8335(OFFICE) 304-479-8097(CELL)

CHESTER, WV – The West Virginia Lottery today (Thursday) granted approval for Mountaineer Casino Racetrack and Resort to open its Poker Room.  The approval comes after two days of practice runs for the dealers with  Charity Night events.   According to Mountaineer President & CEO Ted Arneault, the official opening of  The River Poker Room at Mountaineer  will take place at 4 p.m., Friday, October 19.  The room will begin offering poker games 24/7 effective immediately upon opening.

With 37 tables, the new poker room is located in a 9,900-square-foot space in the grandstand area .   A $2 to $4 minimum bet limit will be in place in a 8,000-square-foot main poker room while a separate 1,900-square-foot high roller room will have a bet limit based on demand.  The entire grandstand area has been renovated and now includes a new   2,800-square-foot Off Track Betting Parlor, a newly constructed bar and concession stand and numerous televisions.   Total renovation costs for the trackside area total $1.2 million.

Additional table games to be offered the first of the year   will include roulette, craps and blackjack..  Let It Ride, Caribbean Stud and other specialty games will also be offered.   Four out of five table games areas will be located in the casino portion of the property with a total of 2,800-square-feet of gaming space. An  additional pit will be located in the upper grandstand level.

The advent of Mountaineer’s newest gaming entertainment not only enhances its ability to compete with Pennsylvania’s racetracks and casinos where slot machines were recently introduced, but serves as a vital economic boost to Hancock County at a time when unemployment is at an all-time high.   Projections for new employment upon full implementation of table games are estimated to exceed  700.  With the opening of the new poker rooms up to  298 new jobs will be added at Mountaineer.   When the room is fully operational, dealers will number between 176 and 197.  An additional 21 management positions will include 17 floor people, 3 shift managers and 1 poker manager.  Ancillary positions created with the onset of poker will number 75 and will include cage personnel, security, surveillance, food and beverage, housekeeping, etc.  During the renovation, 40 outside contractors were also employed on the project.

Enabling legislation for a local referendums on  racetrack table gaming was approved by the West Virginia Legislature in its 2007 session.  The opening of the poker room comes 4 ½ months after Hancock County voters approved racetrack   table gaming in a local referendum election by an 18  percent  margin on June 30.   Mountaineer forged a partnership with West Virginia Northern Community College two years ago in anticipation of training for table gaming.  WVNCC partnered with Atlantic Cape Community College in New Jersey to conduct the training on site with classes getting underway less than a week after Mountaineer received voter approval of table games.  Classes in poker have concluded and sufficient numbers have been certified to staff the poker rooms at Mountaineer.  Classes continue for Blackjack and Roulette.

As he looks forward to  announcing “shuffle up and deal” as Mountaineer officially begins table games, Arneault sees yet another piece of his vision for Mountaineer become reality.  But, as is always the case with him, he sees table games not as a conclusion to his vision but as providing more opportunities for development and growth of MTR’s flagship property.

“The addition of table games to Mountaineer will not only add an exciting gaming entertainment option for our patrons,” said Arneault.  “It will allow Mountaineer to create jobs and to enter into partnerships for further development into a destination resort area.”