Table Games

Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold told the county's members of the House of Delegates Friday that anticipated slots revenue would likely stave off the need for public employee furloughs. The county is expecting to receive about $15 million from a slots casino at Arundel Mills mall that is expected to open later this year, officials said. The county has furloughed its employees for up to 12 days for the past two years at a savings of $7.6 million annually as revenues have fallen.

Maryland's three casinos generated about $44.3 million in January, with a a majority -- $36 million -- coming from Maryland Live in Anne Arundel County. Casinos keep only 33 percent of their revenues, with the state doling out the rest to accounts set aside for causes ranging from an education trust fund (49.25 percent) to a fund for small, minority and women-owned businesses (1.5 percent.) Maryland Lived, owned by the Baltimore-based Cordish Cos., has dominated the casino market since opening in June.

Members of Maryland's slots panel, worried that neighboring states are enhancing their casinos, recommended Friday that lawmakers allow table games like blackjack and poker at the five slots locations voters have approved. "It is apparent we are well behind the curve," Commissioner D. Bruce Poole said at a slots commission meeting Friday. "We are running catch-up with other states." The commission's decision came hours after a key vote by Delaware lawmakers to allow dice and card games at their gaming facilities.

Four years ago, Maryland voters went to the polls and overwhelmingly agreed to legalize video lottery terminal facilities in Maryland - including one at a vacant swath of land in South Baltimore. After many years of delay, that decision is finally beginning to pay dividends for our schools and other critical services, with millions of dollars in gaming revenues starting to come in to state and local governments. But we have yet to fully realize the predicted boost in tax revenues, in part because in the years since voters approved slots casinos, our neighboring states have adopted changes making Maryland's casinos uncompetitive.

A measure that would pave the way for a casino in Prince George's County picked up support Friday from Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, even as some city lawmakers raised concerns that it would take money away from the gambling venue planned near M&T Bank Stadium. With just over a week left in the General Assembly session, the debate about whether to expand gambling has moved over to the House of Delegates — the chamber that has been hesitant to support casinos. The Senate has passed a bill that would not only authorize a sixth casino in Maryland but allow table games in addition to slot machines at all of the state's gambling parlors.

For a few hours on Wednesday, Annapolis took a time warp back to 2005. The Senate badly wanted an expansion of gambling, and the governor was on its side. The House of Delegates, facing internal and external pressure to do something on an issue that had consumed the State House for years, agreed to a plan but on terms that its leaders knew nobody involved was willing to accept, and the whole exercise collapsed in a jumble of finger-pointing. If anybody can feel good about the failure this week of the special work group to consider gambling expansion, it's Republican former Gov.Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. He was on the losing side of the 2005 gambling fight, and at least he can now take solace that it wasn't just him; Democratic Gov.Martin O'Malley wasn't able to seal the deal in 2012 either.

For anyone wagering the over/under on how long it would take one of Maryland's fledgling slot machine operators to seek permission to run table games, you can now tear up tickets that predicted three months or longer. Representatives of Penn National Gaming say their Hollywood Casino at Perryville needs blackjack and the like to stay profitable. After a better-than-expected opening month in October, the machine-only casino's revenues plunged by more than 42 percent, to $6.5 million, in December.

Caesars Entertainment, which plans to bring a casino to Baltimore, announced Thursday that it would spend $25 million more and hire 500 more people than originally planned to take advantage of opportunities presented by the passage of Question 7. Caesars now will build a higher-end Horseshoe-brand casino rather than a Harrah's on the Baltimore site near M&T Bank Stadium that will focus on table games such as poker and black jack. The Las Vegas-based company had long hinted it would invest more if Maryland expanded gambling because it believes it will draw dedicated cardplayers from around the country to the casino, which now will feature a World Series of Poker room and host series events.

Maryland Live Casino will open Thursday at 8 a.m. and, according to officials, "never close again. " The Hanover facility, located adjacent to the Arundel Mills Mall, is the only one of the state's three casinos that requested full-time operation from the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Commission. The passing of Question 7 during the November election made it legal for casinos in the state to operate 24 hours a day. Maryland Live had previous closed at 2 a.m. on weeknights and 4 a.m. on weekends.

We can't offer you gambling advice, but we can tell you how to make your way around Maryland Live Casino, the new $500 million Cordish Cos. gaming destination at Arundel Mills. The good news is you don't have to drop a nickel to take in the excitement. There are attractions and amenities for the non-gambler, too. "All you have to do is walk through the doors to realize that we have created a very special experience here for our guests," said Cordish Cos.managing partner Joe Weinberg.