New Philly casino license challenged in court

Last month’s award of a Philadelphia casino license is being appealed to the Pennsylvania high court.

Philadelphia’s SugarHouse Casino and developer Bart Blatstein, one of the losers in the four-way competition, on Thursday appealed regulators’ decision to award the license to Live! Hotel & Casino.

The deadline to challenge the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board’s casino license award was Thursday.

An appeal had been expected, although the state Supreme Court has never overturned the gaming board’s award of a casino license. It’s the last available casino license in eastern Pennsylvania, and the fifth in the Philadelphia region.

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Live! Is to be owned by the Cordish Cos. of Baltimore and Greenwood Gaming & Entertainment Inc., of Bensalem. Cordish owns the Maryland Live! Casino while Greenwood operates Parx Casino in Bensalem.

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