Fry said that while "we have got to be cognizant of what other states are doing," his commission is focusing on carrying out the slots program approved by voters and state lawmakers. "The reality is that Maryland is not even in the game yet," he said.
Gov. Martin O'Malley, a Democrat, would not take questions Thursday morning, but spokesman Shaun Adamec said Delaware's move is "not really a concern of the governor's at this point."
The measure that Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, a Democrat, signed into law Thursday declares the state's intent to allow table games, such as blackjack, craps and roulette, in casinos at the state's three horse racetracks.
A three-person panel will have 75 days to recommend a revenue split and make other suggestions before table games are given final legislative approval. Rep. Peter C. Schwartzkopf, a Democrat who wrote the gambling expansion bill, said lawmakers want the table games up and running "as quickly as possible," perhaps by early next year.
The new law also makes Delaware the only state east of the Mississippi River to allow sports betting, which is federally prohibited in most states, including Maryland. Only Nevada, Oregon, Montana and Delaware are exempted from the federal law.
Schwartzkopf said Maryland's approval of slots this fall was "absolutely" a factor in his call to expand gambling in Delaware.
"We're trying to give our casinos a competitive advantage as the states around us are getting slots," he said. Delaware also wants to tap into more gambling money as it works to close an almost $800 million budget deficit, he said, which is why the law also increases the state's take of slots revenue from 37 to 43.5 percent.
Maryland Speaker of the House Michael E. Busch, a Democrat from Anne Arundel County, predicted that West Virginia would soon revisit the idea of table games at its casinos, something voters there previously rejected.
Maryland voters could also consider table games, Busch said. "As soon as the facilities here are up and running, there will be calls to expand like the surrounding states."
Delaware's decision to expand gambling "puts us further behind the eight ball," said Tom Chuckas, president of the Maryland Jockey Club, the Magna Entertainment Corp. subsidiary that owns and operates the Pimlico Race Course and Laurel Park tracks that stand to benefit from slots revenues.
Aaron Meisner, a Mt. Washington resident, said his group Stop Slots Maryland had long anticipated Delaware's gambling expansion - and calls to match it.
"Surprise, surprise," he said. "It's a classic race to the bottom."
