PA no longer waits for casinos!

The slot machines are wired, the restaurants are stocked, and hundreds of neatly uniformed employees have been trained to handle even the most obnoxious customers.

Operators at the Mohegan Sun casino at Pocono Downs have been preparing obsessively to usher in the era of casino gambling in Pennsylvania.

When this small, temporary casino with 1,100 machines opens its doors at 10 a.m. Tuesday, will it be prepared to become the epicenter of casino gambling in the state — a distinction it probably will enjoy for at least a month.

Mohegan Sun President and Chief Executive Officer Robert Soper admits he isn't exactly sure what to expect. He knows he's done everything possible to prepare, but what he doesn't know is what will happen if two decades of pent-up anticipation for gambling comes rushing into his casino all at once.

''It was never our goal to be first, it just worked out that way,'' Soper said. ''There's no model to look at in this market. We know we're going to have to adapt to the unknown. It's a problem, but a good problem. We're both excited and anxious.''

By this time next year, Mohegan Sun will be one of six tracks with slot machines, and within two years, there are expected to be at least a dozen operating casinos in Pennsylvania.

But for now, the Mohegan Sun is the only game in town and, because it comes out of two decades of efforts to bring gambling to Pennsylvania, the demand is expected to be huge. Mohegan officials have even gotten calls from people traveling in RVs who want to arrive early and stay in the parking lot until the doors open.

Though the casino, along Route 315 in Plains Township, is a shiny new facility, it also is considered a temporary gambling center that is less than one-third the size of the permanent casino scheduled to open in 2008. Yet, as the state's first, the Mohegan Sun could be a novelty that stretches well beyond its 30-mile radius market. So for the opening, additional personnel will be in the casino and in the parking lot to handle traffic, while police will be at the entrances along Route 315.

And if you want to get there, you'll have to fill up the tank. To mitigate the crowds, the Mohegan Sun isn't organizing any charter buses for at least a month.

''Believe me, my staff's been trying, but I'm told there's no way we can get a bus in there right now,'' said Tom Jebran, Trans-Bridge Line president. ''They feel they may become overwhelmed, and they don't want us contributing to that.''

For example, the parking lot has 1,800 spaces, and a connecting auxiliary lot will add another 700. Shuttles will cruise the lots to get people who don't want to walk into the casino. But they aren't encouraging any off-site lots because the reality is, if its existing lots are full, the casino probably has been overwhelmed, said Jim Wise, vice president of marketing. If each car brings two people, that means 5,000 people are at the facility. With only 1,100 machines, that leaves a lot of people waiting to play.

The three-restaurant food court can seat another 300, and the horse-racing side of the operation can handle another 1,000.

So, if that lot is full, Wise has an unusual request for a guy whose job is to market the place.

''Go home. If you can't find a parking space, then you're better off coming back another time,'' Wise said. ''We want people to have a good experience, and if the place is overwhelmed, that's not the experience we want them to have.''

For the past month, Mohegan Sun has worked hard to create just the right experience. Every machine been tested, every surface has been cleaned and cleaned again.

Dozens of workers from Mohegan Sun's casino in Connecticut arrived months ago to train workers. Because construction was completed weeks ahead of schedule, hundreds of casino workers have spent the past two weeks going through dry runs. They've been testing each other, with instructions to play the role of demanding, even obnoxious customers.

''Some of the workers had a lot of fun with that,'' Wise said. ''They've been working hard to be ready, and we think they are. We think people will be very impressed.''

Mohegan Sun officials are hoping that if a crush of people do come, they'll come in an even stream. The casino will be open 24 hours a day, and they are recommending that people with flexible schedules come in off-peak hours, in the morning or early afternoon. The casino's busiest time will be from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. each day, and on weekends.

If you are under 21, don't bother coming. Security officers at the entrance and on the casino floor are instructed to check the identification of anyone who looks underage.

Once you're in the door, get a Players Card before you drop your first quarter. It lets the casino track your spending for marketing reasons, but every dollar spent racks up points that can be redeemed for food at the restaurants, or merchandise — everything from T-shirts to big-screen televisions — at the casino store.

And lastly, if the place is crowded, Mohegan officials are asking for patience. Have a drink, grab a sandwich, or wander over to the simulcast area and drop some of your money on races being beamed in from around the country.

Mostly, realize that you're driving a new model. It may take the manufacturer a while to work out the bugs

''I hope people understand,'' Soper said. ''This is only the beginning.''

Mohegan Suns set to open November 14th!

The first money from the state's slot machine industry rolled in to a state bank account Friday, state officials said.

The Pocono Downs at Mohegan Sun racetrack paid the $50 million fee for the slot machine gambling license it was awarded, less than two weeks before it is expected to be the first slots parlor open for business in Pennsylvania, officials

State officials could not immediately say Friday how the money would be spent, although Revenue Department spokesman Steve Kniley noted that the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board owes the state $36 million it has borrowed for its operations.

The racetrack, just outside Wilkes-Barre, is expected to open its 24-hour slots parlor on Nov. 14.

The board has awarded six conditional slots licenses to racetracks, including Pocono Downs, and plans to vote Dec. 20 to permanently award 12 slots licenses. Twenty groups, including Donald Trump's casino company and Las Vegas Sands, have applied for slots licenses, although only five of the 12 licenses are being contested by multiple applicants.

No applications are pending for the other two licenses that the board is authorized to award. The 2004 slots law legalized up to 61,000 machines at 14 sites, potentially making Pennsylvania one of the nation's biggest slots states.