After a series of starts and stops, the future of the proposed North Shore casino faces its most critical deadline this week.

The state Gaming Control Board must decide whether to approve transferring the Pittsburgh license from Don Barden, who was unable to complete financing, to a group headed by Chicago billionaire Neil Bluhm.

Mr. Bluhm said last week that Credit Suisse, which had given Mr. Barden a $200 million bridge loan to get the project started, could force the project into bankruptcy as early as Wednesday.

Mr. Bluhm said he's willing to take over the project and keep all of Mr. Barden's commitments but won't act on the bridge loan payment until he is sure his group has the license.

If the board turns down the Bluhm group and decides -- as two state senators want -- to seek a new round of bids, it is doing so at a time when financing for casinos has never been so hard to get.

"Essentially, what has happened is the credit market has frozen up," said Nicholas Danna, senior gaming analyst for Sterne Agee & Leach Inc. in New Orleans. "It's unclear whether another developer could get financing right now.

"To the extent Bluhm could use his financial might to move this project forward, that might be the best option available. The level of uncertainty for the time, scale and scope of the project would increase dramatically if they seek new bids," Mr. Danna said.

Because of tight credit as well as a poor economy limiting the number of customers willing to travel and lose money, casino companies large and small are scaling back projects or delaying them. Tropicana Entertainment in Kentucky, Greektown Holdings in Detroit and Legends Gaming in Illinois all have filed for bankruptcy protection.

It was the poor financial market that scuttled Mr. Barden's plan to build his signature project, Mr. Danna said. Mr. Barden was ready to proceed when the license was approved in December 2006, but legal challenges from losing bidders and neighborhood concerns delayed work until early this year.

"Arguably, Barden's proposal was the one with the least financial backing," he said. "But having said that, when it was approved, financing was available for everyone. Now, the market has gone down the drain."

Contractors have stopped work on the Mr. Barden's project because they haven't been paid and soon could break their contracts or move on to other jobs. That also would increase costs and delay completion of the project.

State Sens. Jane Orie, R-McCandless, and Jim Ferlo, D-Highland Park, say they are willing to risk those potential problems to have a fair selection process. Rather than Mr. Bluhm's group having an exclusive opportunity to take over the license, they say, everyone should have a chance.

That's particularly true given concerns about the board's selection process, which resulted in awards to Mr. Barden and Louis DeNaples, who faces criminal charges for allegedly lying about organized crime connections. Ms. Orie and Mr. Ferlo want a full vetting of all potential operators, including Mr. Bluhm's group.

Doug Harbach, a spokesman for the gaming board, said the board's staff is in the process of analyzing Mr. Bluhm's financing proposal and will schedule a hearing as soon as that work is done. The board could make a decision as soon as it wants after the hearing, including immediately, he said.

Mr. Harbach said Mr. Bluhm and most members of his group don't have to go through extensive background checks because they previously were approved for participation in a stalled Philadelphia casino proposal.

"We're looking at the financial deal itself, where the money is coming from, the normal things we look at," he said.

The deal includes Mr. Bluhm's group, which would put $170 million into the project to become the majority owner, two Detroit pension funds and Mr. Barden. Mr. Barden would own 20 percent of the casino, down from his original 81 percent.

Mr. Harbach said the board is aware of the precarious situation facing the Pittsburgh license, but that won't influence its decision.

"The board's attention is solely on this petition in front of them [to transfer the license]," he said. "Our staff and the board certainly are aware of the repercussions of what could happen if we went to new bids, of the poor financial market. This is a difficult market in Pennsylvania right now."

As a result, not only is the Pittsburgh project in danger, Mr. Danna said. The two licenses in Philadelphia, also approved in late 2006, have been tied up in legal and neighborhood battles since.

Most likely, the financing and cost estimates for those projects have expired, Mr. Danna said.

"As the availability and cost of capital has gone done the drain, it is less and less likely that new projects will be funded," he said. "Anything that is not already in the pipeline faces a very difficult time."

That's where Mr. Bluhm's group comes in. It has the financial wherewithal to take over the project without extensive bank borrowing.

"I've talked to Neil a lot in the last few days and he said he's never seen anything like this," said Dan Fee, Mr. Bluhm's spokesman. "This is really tough. People don't want to lend."

While neither Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl nor Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato has endorsed Mr. Bluhm's proposal, each has stressed the importance of moving the project ahead.

In addition to money for the new arena and neighborhood development, the casino would generate much-needed revenue for the local governments, which each receive 2 percent of the gross revenue as a host fee. The city and county are counting on that money, which could amount to as much as $10 million a year for each, to balance future budgets.

Mr. Fee said that's why it is important for the gaming board to approve the license transfer.

"If we get this deal done, we'll be able to move very quickly and get this done in 12 months or so," he said. "Mr. Bluhm has the ability to step in and get this project back on track."