HARRISBURG -- Break out the dice. Get ready to spin the roulette wheel and look for jacks to go with aces. Table games will soon be coming to a casino near you.

The state House gave final approval last night to Senate Bill 711, which permits table games to be added to slots casinos at racetracks, such as The Meadows in Washington County, and stand-alone casinos, such as the Rivers in Pittsburgh, and two smaller, resort hotel casinos, which could include Nemacolin Woodlands in Fayette County if it gets lucky.

The House vote -- 103 to 89 (with 11 members absent) -- followed Senate approval Tuesday night. The bill now goes to Gov. Ed Rendell, who is expected to sign it by week's end.

The table games bill is the first major expansion of legalized gaming in Pennsylvania since the original slots bill was passed in July 2004.

One of the earliest table-game backers was state Rep. Bill DeWeese, D-Waynesburg. He didn't have much luck for several years, but the ongoing economic recession, which left the state with a $3.2 billion budget deficit last June, pushed the Legislature to raise revenue with table games sooner than many had expected.

"The hundreds of millions of dollars that eventually will be yielded to the state treasury will be a vital factor in the budget dialogue," Mr. DeWeese said last night.

Enactment of Senate Bill 711 will balance the state's $27.8 billion budget for 2009-10 by generating $250 million in additional revenue. It also lets 1,000 state employees breathe a big sigh of relief because they won't have to be laid off in a budget-cutting move. Mr. Rendell had threatened to make the layoffs this week in order to balance the budget if the additional revenue wasn't forthcoming.

Libraries in Pittsburgh and suburban Allegheny County towns will benefit from some new tax revenue. The law puts a 16 percent tax rate on table game revenue -- with 14 percent going to state coffers, 1 percent to the host county and 1 percent to the host municipality. The state's tax rate drops to 12 percent in two years.

Rep. Josh Shapiro, D-Montgomery, voted against the bill because he said the tax rate and one-time license fees are "way too low." He favored a rate of 34 percent. The license fees are $16.5 million for larger casinos and $7.5 million for the resort casinos. Casino officials had said they couldn't hire as many people if the taxes and fees were too high.

Other critics, such as Rep. Curt Schroder, R-Chester, strongly opposed the bill for providing "Washington, D.C.-style earmarks" for "pet projects of politically well-connected institutions that have sugar daddies and sugar mommies in the Legislature." He included the Allegheny County libraries in this criticism. Others said tax revenue from table games should go to lower property taxes.

But gamblers won't see roulette wheels and card tables appearing overnight at state casinos. The gambling parlors will likely need at least six months to train card dealers, pit bosses, security guards and other workers, as well as moving slot machines and rearranging gaming floors to make room for the new tables. The state Gaming Control Board also has to develop new regulations.

"No one should believe that implementing table games is as simple as turning on a spigot," said board Chairman Gregory Fajt of Mt. Lebanon. We will move the process along as quickly as possible, but will not sacrifice thoroughness for speed."

The new jobs that table games will bring was one major selling point with legislators, as each of the large casinos could hire 800 to 1,000 new workers for their table games, which are considerably more labor-intensive than electronic slots. Eventually the state will have seven racetrack/casinos, five stand-alone casinos and two resort casinos. Then, in 2017, this new law allows a third resort casino to be added.

The 12 larger casinos can have up to 250 table games, such as blackjack, dice, roulette and poker, as well as up to 5,000 slots. The resort casinos can have 50 table games and 600 slots.

While expanded gambling isn't really a classic partisan political issue, much of the opposition came from House Republicans, such as Mr. Schroder and Rep. Mike Turzai of Bradford Woods.

Mr. Schroder said the Legislature is allowing casinos to "prey" on people with gambling addictions. He said the Legislature should use other sources of money, such as a $201 million General Assembly budget surplus or a $75 million film tax credit, to balance the budget, rather than expanding gambling.

He especially criticized Senate Bill 711 for allowing casinos to make interest-free loans to gamblers, which he claimed will hurt people who already have problems controlling their urge to gamble.

Bruce Barron of Pittsburgh-based No Dice also attacked that provision, saying it will add to the damage caused by a current rule letting casinos give gamblers free drinks.

Mr. Barron said the Legislature cannot just continue to tap into people's weaknesses. "The balloon will burst--it's just a matter of time. Gambling cannot save us; it can only impoverish us."

One of the two currently authorized resort casinos has been licensed for Valley Forge Convention Center west of Philadelphia. The new law reopens -- for 90 days -- the application period for the second resort casino license.

Nemacolin Woodlands and a convention center five miles south of Gettysburg in southern Adams County will apply, joining two other competitors, a hotel near Reading and one in the Poconos.

Other key provisions of the new law:

• Reinstates a ban on political campaign contributions to state politicians by casino officials, which was contained in the 2004 law but later struck down in court.

• Reinforces the requirement that the Rivers Casino, in order to keep its license, provide the Allegheny County Sports & Exhibition Authority with funding to build the Penguins' new arena.

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