By Laura Smitherman and Julie Bykowicz , laura.smitherman@baltsun.com and Julie.Bykowicz@baltsun.com|October 11, 2009
The slots parlors coming to Maryland are expected to feature electronic gambling terminals that incorporate popular game shows, celebrities and even life-size digitized blackjack and poker dealers.
The state's effort to purchase such elaborate machines could begin as soon as next week and would mark a major milestone for a program that has gotten under way in fits and starts since voters approved slots last year.
But the strategy could saddle taxpayers with millions of dollars per year in additional costs in the middle of a state budget crisis and faces criticism from gambling foes who say the parlors once described as limited forays into gambling are becoming more like full-blown casinos.
"There are not too many people in the state who understand what they're in for," said Aaron Meisner, who as head of Stop Slots Maryland helped lead the bid to defeat the slots referendum.
Industry experts say a variety of slot machines, including many of the newer interactive machines that mimic card games, are needed to ensure the success of Maryland's slots program as it competes with those in neighboring states that have moved in recent years to expand gambling to include sports betting and table games.
At Delaware Park Racetrack and Slots, just over the state border, 3,000 machines offer an array of choices that make one-armed bandits look like museum pieces.
Pause in front of an electronic card table and the simulated female dealer, her waist cinched in a revealing corset, will ask, "Do you want to play?"
In another room, "Star Wars" scenes play on a high-definition television as patrons sit before terminals topped with plastic, three-dimensional replicas of R2-D2.
"You have got to have all kinds of different machines," said Maris Turner, 58, of Edgewood, who visited Delaware Park three days last week. "Some people have their certain machines, but some people always need to have something new in front of them."
Maryland's first slots license was awarded to the Ocean Downs horse track near Ocean City, where a facility with up to 800 machines could open by Memorial Day. This month, the state slots commission is expected to license a 1,500-machine facility in Cecil County.
Delaware Park President Bill Fasy said players want to see "the state of the art, newest thing on the block."
"Old technology and old slot machines don't necessarily equal success," he said.
