Bulgaria’s land-based gambling operators are breathing a little easier after the government rejected a proposal to close over 600 gaming venues in favor of 10 large integrated resort casinos.

On Wednesday, Bulgaria’s parliament adopted at first reading the ruling GERB party’s proposal to amend the country’s Gambling Act to bring the State Gambling Commission (SGC) under the supervision of the Council of Ministers from its current status as a branch of the Ministry of Finance.

The legislature also approved GERB’s plan to allow the state-run Bulgarian Sports Totalizator to add online casino games to its existing betting and lottery mix, as well as a plan to create a self-exclusion registry for problem gamblers.

But only 22 deputies voted in favor of an amendment to close 638 casinos and slots halls across the country in favor of 10 mega-casinos in five-star hotels within 20km of the country’s borders. Only four MPs voted against the amendment but 127 MPs abstained, denying the amendment the necessary votes to proceed to a second reading.