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ATLANTIC CITY - Don't call John Donnelly a casino mogul.

The prominent Atlantic City gaming attorney has been getting a lot of calls lately about his ownership in a proposed Pennsylvania slots parlor, but he says his role in the $30 million project is merely to serve as its lawyer.

Donnelly and his law partner, Michael Sklar, will get a cut of the casino in return for their legal work for the majority owner, CMS Fund Advisers Inc., an investment group based in suburban Philadelphia. The venture is called Wyo Gaming LP.

"We're very minor," Donnelly said. "We're simply lawyers on this project. Any interest we will have is compensation for legal work."

If the project is approved by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, Wyo Gaming plans to transform the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Wyomissing, Pa., near Reading, into a 500 slot machine operation.

The Wyo group is competing for a license to operate a small, resort-style Category 3 slots parlor. The owners of the Fernwood Hotel & Resort in the Pocono Mountains are also seeking the license.

Under Pennsylvania gaming laws, Category 3 casinos are allowed a maximum of 500 slot machines in "well-established resort hotels" having at least 275 guest rooms. Two Category 3 licenses are authorized among Pennsylvania's 14 proposed casinos. One of the licenses has already been granted to the Valley Forge Convention Center, which has not yet opened its slots parlor.

Category 3 facilities function differently than the much larger Pennsylvania racetrack casinos and the stand-alone slot parlors that are open to the public without restrictions. Only hotel guests or patrons using other facilities in the resort may play the slot machines at the Category 3 sites.

"I don't see this being competitive with Atlantic City or other casinos in Pennsylvania," Donnelly said of the modest Crowne Plaza gaming operation.

Pennsylvania's large slot parlors have provided intense competition for Atlantic City, siphoning away customers from feeder markets in Philadelphia and the surrounding region.

As a lawyer, Donnelly has represented one of the existing Pennsylvania slot parlors, the Mount Airy Casino Resort in the Pocono Mountains. He also is serving as legal counsel to the proposed SugarHouse casino in Philadelphia and the Rivers Casino opening next month in Pittsburgh. But the Crowne Plaza project is the first slots parlor in which he would hold an ownership stake.

"I would say that I'm not the architect of competition in my city," Donnelly said of the rivalry between Pennsylvania and Atlantic City. "If I was hit by a bus tomorrow, there would still be casinos operating in Pennsylvania."

E-mail Donald Wittkowski:

DWittkowski@pressofac.com

1 comment:

• MsTurmoil (9) posts 10:32 pm

  John Donnelly is an hard working honest and ethical attorney. He represented me against a dirt bag employer who sued me to avoid paying overtime which was owed. Mr. Donnelly did not charge for his time. I hope his venture in Pennsylvania works out. If he is involved I am sure it will. Good luck, Mr. Donnelly.

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