The racetrack casinos in West Virginia's Northern Panhandle hope to add table games to their gambling mix by year's end to improve their odds for keeping patrons when Pennsylvania's new slot machine parlors open.

The West Virginia Legislature gave final approval yesterday to a bill that would permit casino games such as blackjack, poker, craps and roulette at four racetracks, if voters authorize it by referendum in the host counties. Gov. Joe Manchin is expected to sign the measure.

Officials of the two West Virginia tracks closest to Pittsburgh -- Mountaineer Racetrack & Gaming Resort in Chester, Hancock County, and Wheeling Island Racetrack and Gaming Center in Ohio County -- say they want separate special elections to be held in Hancock and Ohio counties by June, and will pay for them.

The gambling venue operators have the choice of waiting a year to have the referendum placed on the ballot in West Virginia's next regular election, or paying for special elections themselves; they prefer the latter to speed the process. A Hancock County election official estimated the cost there at $30,000 to $40,000, while an estimate from Ohio County was unavailable.

If voters permit it -- considered likely because panhandle voters heavily endorsed gambling expansion that permitted slots in 1994 -- Mountaineer and Wheeling Island could have the table games running by November, officials said. The more distant tracks that could add table games are in Charles Town, Jefferson County, and Nitro, Kanawha County.

Slot machines would still generate the overwhelming share of revenue at the gaming centers, industry and government officials say, but converting the operations to full-fledged casinos could help prevent the loss of customers to Pennsylvania's slots-only operations and also attract new patrons.

Plans to provide slots at The Meadows in May and on Pittsburgh's North Side in 2008 might cost Wheeling Island 30 percent to 40 percent of its revenue unless it adds table games, said Kim Florence, spokeswoman for the greyhound track in Wheeling.

"This is a job and economic development issue for us," she said, noting that adding table games would prompt Wheeling Island to double the size of its 151-room hotel. "We're looking at protecting what we have and growing."

Wheeling Island anticipates adding 400 jobs to the 1,000 it already has.

Mountaineer spokeswoman Tamara Cronin said it could add 450 to the 1,500 people employed there. The jobs for table games personnel would average about $35,000 in annual salary, she said, and those employees would serve a broader array of patrons.

"We believe this will bring whole new customers, a younger customer, that will maybe be more attracted to table games," Ms. Cronin said. "It completes the idea of a destination resort."

West Virginia facilities that offer table games would be able to retain 65 percent of the revenue from that form of gambling, with the state taking 35 percent. On slot machines, tracks keep 42 percent and give up 58 percent for state taxes and other designated uses, The lower tax rate for table games is based on the higher overhead costs for operators.

It is considered likely that Pennsylvania operators will eventually pursue addition of table games as well, but that may not be for at least several years, said Edson "Ted" Arneault, president of MTR Gaming Group Inc., whose company owns both Mountaineer and the new Presque Isle Downs & Casino in Erie County.

"I think people in Pennsylvania are going to want to see some kind of historic analysis of how successful [the slots parlors] have been, before they take the next step," he said during lobbying for the table games bill in West Virginia.