A slot machine spins through the symbols in a Pennsylvania test of new slot machines. Pennsylvania has become a focal point for the industry as efforts to legalize casinos stall in other states.

Bradley C. Bower / The Associated Press 2005

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HARRISBURG, Pa. — With an expansion of gambling stalled elsewhere in the country, major gambling interests have set their sights firmly on Pennsylvania, where hearings will soon begin on competing proposals for slots parlors from Pittsburgh to the Poconos.

Though table games won't be allowed, up to 61,000 slot machines will be — enough to draw interest from the biggest names in gambling.

Companies vying to set up shop in Pennsylvania include the world's largest, Harrah's Entertainment Inc., as well as Boyd Gaming Corp., Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc. Two Indian tribes that operate hugely successful casinos in Connecticut are also looking to establish a foothold.

Pennsylvania, it turns out, will be the first state this century to usher in what analysts consider a major expansion of commercial gambling. Michigan, which approved three casinos in 1996, was the last.

"You'd be hard-pressed to go to any gambling conference, any boardroom of any company and not find people conversant or knowledgeable about what is going on in Pennsylvania," said Joe Weinert, vice president of the Atlantic City, N.J.-based consulting firm, Spectrum Gaming Group. "Pennsylvania is it right now."

On April 5, state gambling regulators will begin public hearings on proposals for slots at 14 venues, including racetracks and free-standing locations, which could make Pennsylvania one of the biggest slot-machine states in the country. Slots could be up and running at the racetracks as early as the fall.

"You can see that by the sheer number of bigger companies interested in Pennsylvania that there are not a whole lot of other domestic opportunities right now," said Brian McGill, an analyst at Susquehanna Financial Group outside Philadelphia.

And many of the biggest companies came despite the exclusion of table games and a tax rate of 52 percent, more than six times higher than Atlantic City's or Nevada's.

Once all the parlors are up and running, the state has estimated the industry could generate annual revenue of $3 billion from slots, which account for at least two-thirds of the gambling revenue in Atlantic City and Nevada.