Aside from the Arundel site, the referendum approved by a 59 percent majority of voters last November called for slots parlors to be built in Cecil and Worcester counties, Baltimore City and on state property in Rocky Gap State Park in Western Maryland.
The slots parlors are expected to eventually generate hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue. Some of those proceeds are slated to augment horse-racing purses.
The debate about where the slots will go is only part of a fuzzy future facing what officials estimate is a $1.6 billion industry in the state. The other big question surrounds Magna Entertainment Corp., which filed for bankruptcy in March. Magna owns Pimlico Race Course, which hosts the Preakness Stakes, and Laurel Park, the state's other major racing venue.
