Free Republic

Philadelphia Park opened southeastern Pennsylvania's first slot-machine parlor and the second statewide yesterday, attracting gamblers who said they were happy for a local alternative to the casinos in Atlantic City. Hundreds of people poured in when the doors opened shortly after 11:30 a.m. and began stuffing bills into the machines, and the ca sino enjoyed a brisk business in its first hours of operation. Ines Beiez, 47, a North Philadelphia woman who was one of the first to sit down at a machine, said Philadelphia Park would become her gambling destination of choice. Although she was a frequent patron of...