Big day for gambling, but not for Harrah's

Gambling in Pennsylvania will mark still another milestone today.

And it has nothing to do with our elected representatives continuing to debate adding table games to the mix.

No, this afternoon a group of officials and dignitaries will no doubt don silly hard hats and stick a bunch of fancy shovels in the ground in one of those classic photo ops.

It will mark the official groundbreaking for the SugarHouse casino on the waterfront in Philadelphia.

There’s no truth to the rumor that they will toss the dirt on Harrah’s down in Chester.

The folks at Harrah’s no doubt will not be cheering the start of building of one of the two casinos planned for Philly. Harrah’s doesn’t exactly need the competition. They’ve now posted eight straight months of lower revenues from their slots operation. They’ve got NFL parlay betting to contend with just a few miles down I-95 in Delaware.

And yesterday it was announced they were being hit with a $45,000 fine from the state Gaming Control Board in connection with an incident involving the way they handled an unruly patron.

But nothing poses a bigger threat to the gravy train at Harrah’s as casinos on the Philly waterfront. SugarHouse will put 1,700 slot machines just off I-95. Many of the people sitting in front of those machines no doubt are people who right now drive down I-95 to Harrah’s.

Trouble on the horizon. Maybe. Then again, they’re banking that the addition of table games can ease the pain.

In fact, you can bet on it.

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