MTR Gaming yesterday removed itself from the race to build a casino in Pittsburgh, skipping the deadline by which slot machine license applications were to have been submitted to the state.

MTR is the second would-be casino owner to drop out of the bidding for the one slots license available in Pittsburgh. Beaver County developer Charles Betters, who is planning to locate a thoroughbred track in the city's Hays section, backed out of the casino competition on Monday.

That leaves four possible casino sites in the city, barring any last-minute entries: Forest City Enterprises' proposed Station Square casino; the Pittsburgh Penguins-Isle of Capri's in Uptown; Alco Parking owner Merrill Stabile's on the North Shore near PNC Park; and Detroit businessman Don Barden's on the North Side between the Carnegie Science Center and West End Bridge.

In June, MTR, the owner of Mountaineer Race Track and Gaming Resort in West Virginia, revealed its intention to put together a group to pursue the city's lone available casino license, hoping to build on Pittsburgh's North Shore near the Del Monte plant.

At the time, MTR Chief Executive Officer Edson "Ted" Arneault pledged to earmark 2 percent of slots revenue -- about $6 million a year, or $150 million over 25 years -- to help build a new hockey arena, and he challenged other slots license applicants to make a similar pledge.

Some did.

One of the reasons Mr. Arneault pulled out of the race yesterday was because the Isle of Capri proposal earmarks $290 million for a new arena, theoretically keeping the Penguins in Pittsburgh at no cost to taxpayers. That offer was difficult to match.

Even so, throughout yesterday afternoon, would-be MTR casino investors pushed Mr. Arneault to press on and submit the slots application. Mr. Arneault balked, and the deadline passed.

Mr. Arneault, through a spokesman, said he believed the company's focus would be better directed at MTR's thoroughbred track and casino, called Presque Isle Downs, now under development in Erie.

Because the 2004 slots law forbids a company from fully owning more than one casino in Pennsylvania, MTR could have been the "manager" of the Pittsburgh casino but could have owned only a one-third share in it.

The hefty Pittsburgh slots application was completed and ready for submission, said MTR spokesman John Brabender, and as recently as Tuesday afternoon, all signs indicated that the company still had planned to pursue the license.

The application for MTR's Erie racetrack casino was, however, submitted on deadline, Mr. Brabender said.

It's been a busy month for MTR. Earlier in December, a subsidiary of MTR Gaming Group Inc. struck a deal to buy a 90 percent interest in a Michigan harness racing track. Meanwhile, Mr. Arneault and investment partner Robert Blatt offered to buy MTR from its current shareholders for $9.50 a share. The $270 million takeover still is being considered by MTR.

Mr. Arneault and Mr. Blatt, MTR's two top executives, made the offer through their newly formed TBR Acquisition Group.