HARRISBURG -- Nemacolin Woodlands officials are working with the state Gaming Control Board to resolve two issues that could determine how many gamblers use the slots casino the posh Fayette County resort is seeking.

The Nemacolin slots parlor will be open only to a targeted group, patrons of one of the resort's other recreational facilities. Someone can't just drive up to the Nemacolin casino and expect to gamble at the slots.

This means gamblers must pay to use of one of two dozen "amenities." They must stay overnight at the hotel, play golf, relax at the spa, dine in one of 10 restaurants, attend a convention at the resort, shop at one of several shops, drive on an off-road dirt course or shoot clay pigeons, among other things.

"The intent of the law was that [the casino] would be an additional recreational amenity available to patrons of Nemacolin," Gaming Control Board spokesman Doug Harbach said. "It can't just be someone off the street."

But in what chronological order does a patron have to use the facilities, asked Nemacolin spokesman Jeff Nobers. Must he or she attend a convention or shoot a round of golf first in order to qualify to enter the casino, or can a patron play the slots first and then go into the spa, gift shop, restaurant or golf course?

Mr. Nobers said that, in his opinion, "It really shouldn't matter in what order a patron uses our amenities."

And how long a period of time will be allowed between a patron's use of an amenity and his entrance into the casino? Can he or she stay in the hotel or play golf one weekend and then come back the next weekend or a month or two later to gamble at the slots?

"Is a patron limited to using the casino only during the one visit where he uses an amenity?" Mr. Nobers asked. "That, along with the chronological order question, is still unanswered."

Former state Rep. Jeffrey Coy, one of the seven board members, said it was up to Nemacolin officials to make a proposal to the board on how they would like to operate.

"It's an excellent resort, and I'm sure they'll figure out a way to comply with the law," he said. "That's not our job as a board. It's their job. Then we'll make a decision based on their gaming application and Act 71," the 2004 slots law.

That law specifically designed the Nemacolin slots parlor and one other resort hotel slots casino, whose location isn't known, to operate differently from the seven casinos to be at state racetracks or the five stand-alone casinos, including one in Pittsburgh.

For one thing, the Nemacolin casino will have 500 slots, far fewer than the 5,000 slots that the racetrack and stand-alone casinos may have. The other is that only patrons of one of the resort's other activities will be able to gamble at the casino.

"Act 71 doesn't speak to the chronological order of a patron's participation in a resort's amenities, but it does make it clear that a resort casino will operate differently" from the track and stand-alone casinos, said Christopher Craig, counsel to Sen. Vincent Fumo, D-Philadelphia, who helped write the slots law.

He suggested that, perhaps, a membership card could be developed, where a person would pay a fee to the resort that would entitle him to use all the facilities, including the casino, for a certain length of time.

Nemacolin officials and the Gaming Control Board have to resolve the issues by Dec. 20, the date the board expects to issue slots licenses for Nemacolin and for five stand-alone casinos. Licenses for six racetrack/casinos have been issued.

The seventh casino license can't be issued until the state Harness Racing Commission issues a separate license for racing to one of two competing track developers, either in Lawrence or Beaver county.