Don Barden describes himself as a risk-taker with a knack for being in the right place at the right time.

	Bradley C. Bower, Associated Press Detroit developer Don Barden, left, greets Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board member Kenneth McCabe, yesterday in Harrisburg after the board awarded Barden???s company the Pittsburgh slots casino license. Click photo for larger image.

Today, that place is Pittsburgh. And the risk now seems minimal, as he will have a monopoly on the many thousands of slot machine players for whom the city is the most enticing location to gamble.

The $450 million casino project for which Mr. Barden received state approval yesterday to undertake on the North Shore, combined with the potential for a $350 million revitalization effort he has vowed to lead in the lower Hill District, suddenly makes the Detroit resident one of the most influential businessmen in Western Pennsylvania.

He was already the most prominent African American in the gaming industry, by way of operating casinos in Indiana, Nevada, Mississippi and Colorado.

His plan to extend his Majestic Star brand name to Pittsburgh always received third-place attention in public discussions of the competing proposals involving bigger industry rivals, Isle of Capri Casinos Inc. and Harrah's Entertainment Inc.

Through it all, as state hearings were held and community meetings were staged and talk show hosts jabbered, the 63-year-old self-made entrepreneur maintained the same unflappable, focused demeanor that has made him successful.

He insisted all along he had the best location and design. And in meetings in Pittsburgh, Mr. Barden won over a number of community representatives inclined to trust various promises he has made about recognizing local needs as well as his own development interests.

"Everyone we've talked to who's worked with him is very high on him, in terms of providing a place to work and being a community contributor," said Ron Porter, co-chairman of the Pittsburgh Gaming Task Force, a group that endorsed the competing Isle of Capri plan but also largely praised Mr. Barden's PITG Gaming proposal.

Like Mr. Porter, state Rep. Jake Wheatley, D-Hill District, sees Mr. Barden as a role model for younger minorities. The self-made multimillionaire made his original fortune in real estate and cable television in Ohio and Michigan.

Mr. Wheatley said Mr. Barden's commitment to the Hill District, which he made to match Isle of Capri's promise of community revitalization, is evidence of the casino mogul's broader public outlook.

"It goes back to who he is as a person, willing to reach out and become more entrenched in our community," said the lawmaker, who got to know Mr. Barden when he began meeting with legislative leaders and the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus before the slots legislation was passed in 2004.

There is little chance that Mr. Barden would ever uproot himself from Detroit, where he has a headquarters building, lavish suburban home and wife who is a high-level county official. He also has maintained continuing interest in acquiring ownership of one of three Detroit casinos.

Pittsburgh has intrigued him for several years, however, as a key opportunity to grow his company, which has already been identified as the eighth-largest minority-owned firm in the nation.

He had a key ally from the outset in Terry Wirginis of the Gateway Clipper Fleet, who was a friend and former partner in Gary, Ind., casino development in the early 1990s.

Mr. Wirginis' company, MAXT Corp., owns the 17 acres between the Carnegie Science Center and West End Bridge, which Mr. Barden will buy to develop.

He is the one who first encouraged Mr. Barden to examine Pittsburgh, and was happier than ever yesterday that he did.

"He's a resourceful, serious gentleman, the type who does what he says he's going to do," Mr. Wirginis said. "Apparently, he's been able to show that to the gaming commission."