Sunday, March 3, 2013
Maryland Live Casino plans to open 122 tables on April 11.
Arundel Mills’ Maryland Live! Casino will debut 122 tables of live action games on April 11, The Washington Post reports. Last November, Maryland voters approved Question 7, allowing Maryland Live and two other gambling establishments to not only offer table games in 2013, but to stay open 24 hours a day. To make room for the table games, more than 400 slot machines are being removed. The initial live table games will include so-called “carnival” variations of poker such as Pai Gow, three-card and Mississippi stud, as well as blackjack and craps. According to the Post, casino officials plan to add a split-level poker room in Summer 2013. Dealers for the table games were required to take a 12-week course at the Maryland Love Casino Dealer …
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Maryland Live! saw revenue decline slightly despite the first full month of 24-hour gambling.
Revenue at the Maryland Live! casino was essentially flat between December and January, despite the first full month of 24-hour operations. The casino pulled in $35,943,756.19 in January, a decline of just under $100,000 from December. Casino revenue across the state dropped by about $900,000, as the state’s three casinos brought in $44.3 million combined. Maryland Live! is by far the largest casino with 4,750 machines. The Hollywood Casino in Perryville pulled in $5,455,111 in January, down from $5,956,140 in December. The Casino at Oceans Downs collected $2,928,919.55, down from $3,335,925.98 Casino revenue generated $14.6 million for operators with the rest going to the state’s Education Trust Fund, local impact grants, and the horse …
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Three Maryland casinos hauled in a combined total of $43 million last month.
With another casino on its way in Maryland, possibly in Prince George's, a new report shows that gambling revenue is down. Although the three Maryland casinos—Hollywood Casino Perryville, Maryland Live Casino and The Casino at Ocean Downs—brought in a revenue of $43 million last month, the gaming revenue is still down 28.5 percent—or $3.478 million—from last year. This number doesn't factor in Maryland Live, since it opened earlier this year. Hollywood Casino Perryville generated more than $5 million in November, while Maryland's three casinos combined to generate $43 million. Still, the Cecil County facility continues to see a major dip in revenue over last year. Hollywood Casino saw a 40.5 percent decrease in money earned compared with …
Monday, November 12, 2012
Mayland voters narrowly approved Question 7 last week, but not before a lot of money was spent.
Groups with a stake in Maryland's referendum on expanded gambling spent more than $35 a vote during the 2012 campaign, according to an analysis by WTOP. Unofficial results from the Maryland Board of Elections show that 2,479,262 people cast a vote on Question 7, which asked residents whether they favored the introduction of table games to the state and the addition of a sixth casino in Prince George's County. The measure narrowly passed by a margin of 51.9 percent to 48.1 percent. But before the matter was decided, opponents and supporters undertook enormous advertising efforts to sway voters. Casino operators that stood to benefit—including MGM Resorts International, CBAC Gaming LLC, and The Peterson Companies—were pitted against casinos …
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Throngs of people crowded into Maryland Live! casino Wednesday.
Maryland Live! at Arundel Mills is now the third largest casino in the United States, based on the number of slot machines. On Wednesday, the Maryland Lottery and Maryland Live!’s developers unveiled 1,043 new slot machines at the Hanover casino, bringing its total to 4,750 machines. The two biggest casinos in the nation are both in Connecticut: Foxwoods with 7,000 machines and Mohegan Sun with more than 6,400. The casino in Anne Arundel County opened June 7. Since then, the entertainment facility has added The Cheesecake Factory restaurant and Rams Head Center Stage. In addition to celebrating the new slot machines, a Sept. 12 media event highlighting completion of the casino's second phase of development featured the grand opening of …
Saturday, August 11, 2012
"Concerns are everywhere," said Del. Frank Turner, chairman of the House Ways and Means subcommittee on Gaming Law and Regulation.
A bill authorizing gambling expansion in Maryland will likely be amended, according to the chairman of the House subcommittee that is holding hearings on the legislation. Del. Frank Turner, a Howard County Democrat, initially characterized possible changes to the bill passed Friday by the Senate as minor. "Mostly it's a lot of tweaks," said Turner, the chairman of the House Ways and Means subcommittee on Gaming Law and Regulation. When asked what concerns his committee might have, Turner suggested the changes might be more substantive. "I think there are concerns everywhere," Turner said. "There are all kinds of concerns and ideas. Some will be germane and others won't. I think we're going to make it a better work product than what the …
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Baltimore City delegation isn't set on special session for expanded gambling yet, could hinder plans for a Prince George's County casino.
This afternoon word broke that a deal was close for a Special Session of the Maryland General Assembly to put expanded table gambling up to the voters, but that may not be the case. Del. Shawn Z. Tarrant, D-District 40, who was at meetings today with House Speaker Michael Busch, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and 10 other members of the delegation said a deal hasn’t been brokered. "No I haven’t heard that, and to be quite honest with you, the Baltimore delegation hasn’t been pitched anything of any value to make us vote for this," Tarrant said. Talks of a special session have continued since the spring, after the General Assembly failed to come to a consensus on expanding gambling particularly into Prince George's County where politicians…
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
As prospects for a Prince George’s County casino fizzle, the county executive said he was misled by state politician.
While odds of state legislators bringing a casino to National Harbor appear to be dwindling, Prince George’s County Executive Rushern Baker is charging that he was lied to by a state politician in garnering support for the project, according to a report in The Washington Post. In Annapolis last week, plans by legislators to place a voter referendum on the ballot for gambling in November folded. And Baker soon went on the offensive saying he was “lied” to by House Speaker Michael Busch on clearing support for gambling in a special session, reports the Post. A commission set up to move the referendum forward could not reach an agreement and Baker said he was assured by Busch that there was enough support for the referendum. “I was lied to by…
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
An analysis released Tuesday challenged the claim that a National Harbor casino would undermine other Maryland facilities.
Gambling revenues would go up some $246 million statewide if Maryland were to issue a license for a casino in Prince George's County, according to a study released Tuesday. The analysis, conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Department of Legislative Services, was presented to a group of lawmakers in Annapolis, the Washington Examiner reports. The study also found that a plan incorporating both table games and a Prince George's casino could bolster profits by 20 percent at Arundel Mills' Maryland Live! casino and as much as 30 percent at a future slots facility in Baltimore. Some elected officials and competing developers have charged that building a casino at National Harbor would eat into their revenue streams. Read the full story …
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Still lacking enough support in Annapolis, time is running out for casino bill.
The clock is ticking in Prince George’s County for state and local politicians to decide the outcome of legislation that could bring a billion dollar casino to the county by approving a sixth casino license for the state. Legislators in the Maryland General Assembly have until Monday, the end of the legislative session, to back the bill that would allow county voters to decide on allowing a casino in the county. Also at issue is a referendum on adding tables games to slots in casinos throughout the state. This week, the bill received a majority backing from the Prince George’s County Council, but is still struggling to gain the needed support of state delegates. The bill is facing an uphill battle from members of the House, including the …
Ronald L Nadeau
3:49 pm on Tuesday, February 5, 2013
It would be a Gold Mine for the State treasury. Go for it. more ›