A nine month deadlock over slot machine distributor licences was broken yesterday when the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) awarded 12 licences. A demand for the creation of two separate regions in the state, in order to create more jobs, was finally dropped as missing the July 5 legislative deadline would have delayed licensing for six months or more. The racetrack licences should now be issued in September with slots operational from January 2007.

Yesterday the PGCB unanimously voted to approve licenses for three companies that filed applications to be manufacturers of slot machines and associated equipment. Manufacturer licences were granted to Bally Gaming Inc, Spielo Manufacturing ULC and GTECH Corp. Eight other companies must await further investigation, including Ainsworth Game Technology, Mikohn Gaming Corp and DigiDeal Corp. Manufacturer licences were previously approved for Atronic, Aristocrat, IGT, Konami, NRT Technology, Shuffle Master, Western Money Systems and WMS Gaming.

Although the Senate this week passed a bill that would eliminate the present requirement, the PGCB considered 22 applications for distributor licences before granting 12. "This is a major step forward for gaming in Pennsylvania," said Chairman Tad Decker. "Act 71 requires that suppliers and manufacturers of gaming equipment be licensed for at least 90 days before we can issue any operator licenses. Adopting these regulations keeps us on target for awarding our first operator licenses - the conditional Category 1 licenses for tracks -- in September 2006.” (E-06.29.06)

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