Mgm

When you critically analyze a problem, you can come up with minor faults, major faults, and faults that are inexcusable. I am writing about an inexcusable fault in the bill that supports expanded casino gambling in the state of Maryland ("Path to jobs or bad bet for Md.?" Oct. 25). Let me say that I am a poker player. I am not against casinos in general. I am against giving a gambling license to an outfit that consorts with organized crime. This same outfit once operated in the state of New Jersey.

Two more bidders emerged Friday to compete against MGM National Harbor for the right to build a casino in Prince George's County. Penn National Gaming submitted a proposal to the state's gaming control agency for a $700-million Hollywood Casino Resort at its Rosecroft Raceway site. And Maryland Casino LLC, a subsidiary of Greenwood Racing Inc., bid to build an $800 million Parx Casino Hotel & Spa in Fort Washington. MGM National Harbor dropped off its own proposal — outlined in 13 boxes of materials — Thursday for an expected $800-million project.

MGM Resorts International put another $3 million into a campaign to expand gambling in Maryland, bringing their total to $8.3 million. The new check means $19.4 million  been raised -- almost entirely from gambling companies -- to influence Marylanders who will vote in November on a ballot measure to expand gambling. The amount exceeds the $17 million spent by both sides in the 2010 gubernatorial race. The gambling measure, passed during a heavily lobbied August special session, would add  a sixth casino in Maryland and allow table games like poker at all of them.

Two more bidders emerged Friday — one a surprise — to compete against MGM Resorts International for the right to build a casino in Prince George's County, which stands with the state to reap millions of dollars from the project. Penn National Gaming, which operates the Hollywood Casino brand, and Greenwood Racing Inc., which owns Pennsylvania's most successful casino, submitted proposals to Maryland's gaming agency by the 2 p.m. deadline. The winner is expected to be chosen by the end of the year by the Maryland Video Lottery Facility Location Commission, which will review the proposals.

A new commercial supporting gambling expansion began broadcasting Wednesday. It attacks the credibilty of the opposition by painting it as an "out-of-state" interest. What the ad says: The ad opens with an image of Penn National Gaming's Charles Town casino in West Virginia, and notes that it is Marylanders cross the state line and lose million of dollars there each year. Next the ad pivots to Maryland, where supporters want to build a "world class" casino in Prince George's County on the banks of the Potomac.

Now that Gov.Martin O'Malleyhas called a special session of the legislature to authorize a sixth casino site in Prince Georges County, how is it that no one has asked why MGM should get preferential treatment? All the other five casino operators had to go through a review process so lengthy that two locations have not even been built yet. MGM thinks their claim that they do not need a break on the taxes charged by the state should be considered by the legislature. Who really cares what MGM thinks?

MGM Resorts International has kicked in another $3 million for its effort to win passage of Maryland's gambling expansion referendum as the money meter in this duel of the casinos shot past $40 million. With MGM's newest contribution, posted at the State Board of Elections Thursday, the total contributed by the company and its allies now amounts to $22 million -- of which $17.8 million has been spent. That puts MGM and its allies -- Caesars Entertainment and Peterson Cos. -- roughly at parity with rival Penn National Gaming.

A television ad from a group opposing a casino at National Harbor went on the air this month with an inflammatory charge against MGM, the prospective operator of the proposed facility. The ad, sponsored by the Prince George's Contractors and Business Association, links MGM with organized crime by pointing to the company's decision to leave the New Jersey market rather than cut its ties to a Chinese business woman whom that state's gaming commission deemed an unfit partner. The ad says, in part: What do we really know about a proposed casino at National Harbor?

MGM Resorts International has pulled narrowly ahead of rival Penn National in one measure of the spending orgy surrounding gambling expansion by allocating another $6.7 million to the effort to win approval of Question 7 on Maryland's Nov. 6 ballot. MGM, the prospective owner of a new casino at National Harbor in Prince George's County, disclosed Wednesday that has put contributed $29.5 million to the ballot committee supporting the question. That narrowly edges Penn National's $29.1 million -- at least until Penn National's next disclosure.

MGM Resorts International reported a modest increase in its spending on the ad wars over the referendum on gambling expansion in Maryland, but it isn't matching rival Penn National million for million. The MGM-supported ballot committee, FOR Maryland Jobs and Growth, reported aggregate spending of $14.6 million on its effort to win approval of Question 7, which would permit a Prince George's County casino along with table games at Maryland's slots parlors. In its report last Friday, the committee reported having spent $14.1 million.

The state commission charged with awarding a casino license in Prince George's County will call for proposals at a meeting in Annapolis on Jan. 31. Don Fry, the group's chairman, anticipates setting a due date in May and, depending on the number and nature of the applicants, awarding the license no later than the end of the year. MGM Resorts, a partner in a proposed $800 million project to be built near National Harbor, will begin work on its proposal as soon as the request is made, spokesman Gordon Absher said.

The campaign that won last month's referendum on expanded gambling spent almost $48 million, its share of the most expensive political fight in Maryland's history. But it but didn't provide much of a direct cash infusion to the state's economy. "For Maryland Jobs and School – Vote Yes on 7," the ballot committee backed by pro-expansion casino companies led by MGM Resorts International, spent only 4 percent of that money on companies, nonprofits and individuals with Maryland addresses, according to its post-election report to the State Board of Elections.

A broad coalition of donors — including casino giant MGM, Delta Airlines, a Washington nightclub and thousands of individuals across the country — together gave nearly $6 million to the campaign to legalize same-sex marriage in Maryland, providing a financial advantage that supporters say was critical to the effort's success. Marylanders for Marriage Equality, the main group working for approval of Question 6 on this month's ballot, raised $5.9 million — more than twice as much as opponents of the measure, according to campaign finance reports filed this week.

After the most expensive political campaign in Maryland's history, proponents of a plan to expand the reach and variety of casino gambling in Maryland won a narrow victory. The measure would allow Maryland casinos to offer table games such as blackjack and roulette, and allow a casino to be built in Prince George's County. Shortly before midnight - even as the final votes were being counted - supporters of the ballot question claimed victory and set off fireworks over National Harbor, the most likely site of that casino.

When you critically analyze a problem, you can come up with minor faults, major faults, and faults that are inexcusable. I am writing about an inexcusable fault in the bill that supports expanded casino gambling in the state of Maryland ("Path to jobs or bad bet for Md.?" Oct. 25). Let me say that I am a poker player. I am not against casinos in general. I am against giving a gambling license to an outfit that consorts with organized crime. This same outfit once operated in the state of New Jersey.

MGM Resorts International has pulled narrowly ahead of rival Penn National in one measure of the spending orgy surrounding gambling expansion by allocating another $6.7 million to the effort to win approval of Question 7 on Maryland's Nov. 6 ballot. MGM, the prospective owner of a new casino at National Harbor in Prince George's County, disclosed Wednesday that has put contributed $29.5 million to the ballot committee supporting the question. That narrowly edges Penn National's $29.1 million -- at least until Penn National's next disclosure.

Just like the movie studio it depicts, "MGM: When the Lion Roars" is big, big, BIG. It's also hammy, over-produced and great fun to watch -- at least if you love the movies.Premiering at 8 p.m. tomorrow on cable's TNT network, the three-part series (with parts two and three at the same time Monday and Tuesday) tells the story of Hollywood's legendary Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios."The spectacular rise of an empire, and its lamentable fall," is how host/narrator Patrick Stewart ("Star Trek: The Next Generation")

Penn National sees MGM's $3 million and raises by $1 million. The casino company gave another $4 million to the ballot committee opposing Maryland's gambling expansion plan, according to a filing posted Friday by the State Board of Elections. That brings Penn National's investment in the referendum on Question 7 to $25.1 million -- of which $21 million has been spent. Meanwhile, the MGM-supported ballot committee in favor of Question 7 has doled out a measly $17.9 million so far, as of Friday morning's report.

A new player entered the fight in favor of expanded gambling as Wayne K. Curry, a former  Prince George's County executive, registered a pro-Question 7 ballot committee Thursday. Curry's committee, Maryland First NOW - Vote Yes On 7, Inc. , is separate from the ballot committee financed largely by MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment.  MGM is the prospective operator of a casino that could be built at National Harbor in Prince George's if Question 7 is approved by voters.