The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board decided today to not give the final available casino license to a group from Gettysburg, which wanted to build a facility about 20 minutes from my house. Nemacolin Resort, out in the western part of the state, won the vote.

I have mixed feelings about this news. I like to gamble a little, but not enough to regularly make the hour-long drive (each way) to the nearest casino, so I had hoped to have a more convenient option. But another part of me thinks the state made the best decision by passing on Gettysburg.

Actually, I don’t think they went far enough. I don’t think anyone deserved the license. It’s not a personal problem I have with any of the applicants, and it’s definitely not some moral high ground that some Gettysburg opponents have tried to claim. It’s just that I think the idea of a Category 3 casino in a Pennsylvania resort is just bad business.

Category 3 casinos must be located at a resort hotel, allow for up to 600 slot machines and up to 50 table games, and limit access to hotel guests or people who patronize the site’s amenities. In other words, a small casino with admission requirements quite possibly off the beaten path.

The whole idea is silly, especially if they chose Gettysburg. And I hate saying that since I know the guy who ran the PR campaign for the effort and respect the plan the investors laid out. I would have loved to have a place near here, but the concept made little sense.

Casinos make money off volume. If they have lower numbers of machines and tables, that means they won’t be able to offer too many low-cost options. If you don’t offer low-cost options, you probably cut out a good portion of your local audience as regular, casual customers. Add some sort of admission requirement, and they’re giving people more than one reason to not come on a regular basis.

At least that’s how I feel. Maybe others would have had a different experience. But I also think the possibility that they would have theoretical higher limits would have chased off tourists in Gettysburg. People who come there – in my opinion – aren’t looking for an extravagent vacation. So if the family is staying at a hotel a few miles away to cut down on costs, is Dad really likely to sneak out and play $25 a hand blackjack after the kids go to sleep?

Maybe I’m completely off base, but the Gettysburg proposal seemed to have no steam from the start regardless of how well they planned. I had much more confidence in the potential success of the first plan a few years ago, which was for a much bigger casino. I think a Gettysburg casino could work, just not this one.

Nemacolin might attract people who are willing to pay those higher minimums in the casino, but will enough people come out to the sticks of western PA? Like I said, the problem is not the proposals from the potential investors. It’s what the state is asking them to buy.