Blotter: Maryland to add more slot machines

Gaming enforcement officials in Maryland announced their approval of a proposal to add a thousand more slot machines to a gaming facility in Cecil County. The expansion would triple the number of slot machines available at the slots parlor from five hundred to fifteen hundred. The commission also mentioned that they would give out another slots license to a different facility by the end of the month.

Penn National Gaming, which owns and operates several gaming sites throughout the eastern and central United States, would construct and oversee the new slots arcade near the town of Perryville, about forty miles northeast of Baltimore. The Perryville slots parlor would be the company’s first venture in the state, although they do operate facilities in nearby states of Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

Buddy Roogow, the director of the Maryland State Lottery, said that Penn National met the state’s standards for both their level of financial backing for the project as well as for criminal background checks the agency typically conducts on gaming companies. He also said that the agency has approved another company that has proposed building a slots site with almost five thousand machines in Anne Arundel County.

Slot machine gaming may continue to grow in the Old Line State if another facility wins approval. Baltimore City Entertainment Group has proposed expanding one of its slot parlors from 500 machines to 3,750. However, the group has not yet turned in the additional fees for licensing use of the new machines to the state. Also, the requisite background checks will not be completed for at least another month.

Last November, Maryland voters approved a measure that would allow for up to five slot parlors in the state, with a maximum of fifteen thousand machines. With the expansion of slots and other forms of gambling in neighboring states such as Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Delaware, Maryland officials did not want to see that money leave the state. Legislators estimate that the new slot parlors will generate US$660 million in new revenues.

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