Topeka ? The only company to show an interest in running a state-owned casino in Cherokee County has dropped its plans, leaving southeast Kansas without anything to show for its long support for gambling.

Penn National Gaming Inc. said Thursday that its proposed casino in Cherokee County could not compete with a casino so close to the state line in Oklahoma that its parking lot is in Kansas. That venture, operated by the Quapaw Tribe, opened this summer.

Penn blamed provisions of a Kansas law enacted last year to allow a single state-owned casino in each of four counties, arguing it required too large an investment. The company said another factor was its failure to also win a contract for a Sumner County casino.

Last month, a state casino review board approved a contract for the Cherokee County casino between Penn, based in Wyomissing, Pa., and the Kansas Lottery, which would own the new gambling venture. Penn would have invested $225 million over 12 years.

Eric Schippers, a Penn vice president, said the Quapaw Tribe already enjoyed significant competitive advantages, including lower tax rates and opening its casino first.

“The Legislature did not envision the speed with which their project was developed or even the fact that their project could be developed,” Schippers said, referring to the Kansas lawmakers who wrote last year’s law. “We were looking for a way to try to make it work despite the competition across the street.”

Penn had embarked upon a “southern strategy,” linking its proposal in Cherokee County to its proposal to open a casino near Wellington in Sumner County. Penn argued having two casinos would make the Cherokee County operation stronger financially.

But for Sumner County, the casino review board picked a group headed by Harrah’s Entertainment Inc., with a site near Mulvane. Penn then hinted that it might pull out of Cherokee County.

“This is simply not viable on a stand-alone basis,” Schippers said.