Harrah's Chester: Doing Just Fine, Thanks

One of the local gaming halls now offering live table games is Harrah's in Chester, Pa., a city that can use all the help it can get.

KYW's David Madden reports that in the 3½ years there have been slots at Harrah's "racino" (race track and casino) along the Delaware River, Chester has received more than $30 million in tax revenues -- which, in this economy, has been a blessing for mayor Wendell Butler:

"We have not had to lay off anybody, and services have not been reduced. So that is just a tremendous help to the city."

Not to mention the 1,000 workers in place even before the live games came into play last month.  Add 600 to that number now.

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One Harrah's worker is Sokunthy Bo (right). She goes by "Cookie," and she's a rookie.  Dealing blackjack was not her original career plan -- she was studying to be a nurse. What got her to change?

"How about, broke? A broke nursing student looking for a way to pay for school."

She's still pursuing that nursing thing  but also hopes to be a pit boss someday.

Robert Guicide, vice president for table games at Harrah's Chester, says the live games provide a whole new dynamic on the floor:

"It allows us to interact with our valued guests in a way we haven't been able to before on the electronic table games."

Harrah's officials were reluctant to discuss future plans.  To be candid, they don't have a lot of ground to build on: about five acres now being used for surface parking.

They declined to put a hotel there before the live games came into play, but that could change. It is thought they might make food and bar upgrades inside the facility.