Get ready for Big Six, big rolls and lots of poker and blackjack. The Rivers Casino is revving up its table games operation.

The casino filed a petition Monday with the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board seeking authorization to operate 86 table games at the North Shore venue, perhaps by early July.

If the plan is approved, gamblers will be able to choose from poker, blackjack, craps, roulette and minibaccarat; and carnival games including three-card poker, Pai Gow Poker, Texas Hold'em Bonus and Big Six, a spinning wheel game.

Of the 86 games, 24 will be poker and 42 blackjack. Todd Moyer, the Rivers' general manager, said the casino was committed to having at least one $5 blackjack table on the floor at all times.

"We really think there's going to be a big demand for the old proven standard, blackjack. I think that's what people want to play," he said.

The casino will locate its main table games pit in a smoking area in the middle of the gambling floor near Levels lounge. There, gamblers will find 35 games, including blackjack, two roulette tables and five craps tables. Another 12 table games will be added in a nonsmoking area near Ciao restaurant.

The casino also is planning a "party pit" with a craps table and five carnival games outside the new Wheelhouse Cafe.

Another nine tables will be installed in the high-limit slots area.

A separate room for the 24 poker tables will be built at the very back of the casino in space that had been set aside for future expansion. It will be nonsmoking.

With table games, the casino expects to add another 309 full-time and 149 part-time employees, with about 350 of those jobs being for dealers. The rest will be for managers, supervisors and support staff.

Rivers officials screened more than 1,800 candidates who were interested in becoming dealers at two job fairs last week. Of those, about 380 were offered a chance to attend a dealers school scheduled to start next month at the casino. The casino is continuing to recruit others. The dealer jobs are estimated to pay $40,000 to $50,000 a year, with most of that coming through tips.

Mr. Moyer said he expected table games, which will supplement 3,000 existing slot machines, to add another dimension to the offerings at the casino, which got off to a slow start but which has seen its revenues climbing in the last two months.

"We just feel it adds to the kind of entertainment atmosphere we've created at the casino," he said.

He also is hoping table games will boost attendance.

After reviewing the petition, the gaming control board will schedule a public hearing to take testimony about the casino plans.

The Rivers is the second casino in the region to file a petition for table games authorization.

The Meadows Racetrack and Casino in Washington County sought state approval to operate 68 table games earlier this month. A public hearing on that petition is scheduled for March 30 in Washington, Pa.

All nine casinos in the state, plus SugarHouse in Philadelphia, which is scheduled to open this summer, have filed petitions to operate table games.

Looking for more from the Post-Gazette? Join PG+, our members-only web site. You'll get exclusive sports content, opinion, financial information, discounts from retailers and restaurants, and more. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.