Table Games

Maryland Live casino in Anne Arundel County announced plans to begin operating 24-hours per day starting Dec. 27. The move, made legal by the passing of Question 7, must first be approved by the state. Casino officials believe they'll get the OK next week. Robert J. Norton, president and general manager of the casino, said in a news release that the casino continues to prepare for the arrival of 150 live table games early next year. Passage of the referrendum spurred Maryland Live to hire 1,200 additional employees; about 140 of them will be in place by Dec. 27 to handle the expanded hours.

With a few reports from smaller campaign committees still not filed late Tuesday, the tally of money spent on this year's battle royale over gambling expansion in Maryland has passed $93 million.  With a final surge, the winning proponents of table games and a new casino in Prince George's County surpassed their opponent -- Penn National Gaming -- in the last weeks of the campaign. The deadline for filing was midnight.  For Maryland Jobs and Schools, the proponents' main committee, reported $19.2 million in spending in the final weeks -- most of its supplied by MGM Resort International.

Dorsey Nicola was shaking the dice and staring down the green felt, where chips were stacked like miniature skyscrapers and multiplying. The craps table was hot last week as a half-dozen students lined the perimeter and Nicola kept throwing sixes. The winnings went ignored in this windowless room tucked into a back corner of an Anne Arundel Community College satellite campus. Students glued their attention instead to the dealer's clever tricks to coax tips from players and calculate payouts, crucial skills for someone hoping to secure a job in the state's newly expanded gambling industry.

The state's largest casino plans to hire hundreds of dealers and install 150 table games, with some taking wagers of up to $10,000, Maryland Live officials said Wednesday in the first detailed announcement since voters legalized such games last week. As soon as the voter-approved expansion takes effect, the casino will begin operating 24 hours a day. David Cordish, chairman of the Baltimore-based Cordish Cos., said he is considering building a high-rise hotel with conference facilities next to the company's casino in Anne Arundel County.

WEATHER: Cloudy then sunny, with a high near 55 . Tonight is expected to bring snow, with a low around 34. TRAFFIC: Check our traffic updates for this morning's issues. TOP NEWS Gambling expansion vote spurs casino hiring plans : A day after Maryland voters approved an expansion of gambling, the state's largest casino said it would hire 1,200 new employees for table games - even as the measure's top foe suggested it would turn to the courts. Wedding bells to ring for Maryland's same-sex couples : If Tuesday was a day of white-knuckled worry for gay and lesbian Marylanders as they waited to see whether the voters would approve same-sex marriage, Wednesday was a day to celebrate - and to plan.

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.

Penn National Gaming, dealt a blow by Maryland voters' approval of a Prince George's County casino Tuesday, signaled that it would not give up its fight and would turn to the courts. Kevin McLaughlin, spokesman for the ballot committee set up by Penn National to fight the gambling expansion question, said the company was disappointed in the results. Voters approved the plan, which includes table games and the new casino, by a margin of 52 percent to 48 percent after a campaign whose final costs were likely to come in at more than $90 million.

A day after voters approved an expansion of gambling in Maryland, the state's largest casino said it would hire 1,200 new employees for table games - even as the ballot question's leading opponent suggested that it will turn to the courts. David Cordish, developer of the Maryland Live Casino at Arundel Mills, said Wednesday that his Cordish Cos. would begin the process of hiring and training the new workers - mainly dealers - immediately. He said the company would also begin purchasing table games and other equipment in order to offer alternatives to slot machines as quickly as possible.

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.

Maryland Live at Arundel Mills mall brought in the overwhelming bulk of the $26.5 million that Maryland's three casinos pushed into the state's treasury during October, the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency announced Wednesday. The Anne Arundel casino, in Hanover, generated $20.5 million for the state last month. The casino operates 4,750 gambling machines. Hollywood Casino Perryville, which is in Cecil County and has 1,500 machines, contributed $3.7 million. The Casino at Ocean Downs, in Worcester County, sent $2.4 million that was made on its 800 machines, the agency said in a statement.