Casino Looks to Move Fast on Table Games
The operators of Maryland Live! said it will move fast to hire 1,000 new workers and install table games now that voters have approved expanded gambling.
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Operators of the Maryland Live! Casino said they will move quickly to add live table games and expand its hours, now that voters have approved a referendum on expanded gambling in the state.
The Cordish Cos. said it will be ready to go once the state issues the necessary regulations to govern table games and 24-hour operations. The company said it will be hiring for as many as 1,000 new positions.
"Maryland Live! looks forward to enhancing its gaming offering and is prepared to Go Live! with table games—physical modifications and hiring for over 1,000 new positions—soon after the State issues the necessary governing regulations," the company said in a statement. Casino spokeswoman Carmen Gonzales said there is no specific timeline as to when the changes will be in place.
Voters approved the installation of table games at casinos as part of a measure that also will allow for 24-hour operations and a license for a new casino in Prince George's County. The Cordish Cos. had opposed the ballot measure, arguing that it needed more time to get established before new casinos were added in the state.
Maryand Live! opened in June near the Arundel Mills Mall, and now has 4,750 slot machines along with a series of restaurants and a concert stage. It is one of three casinos operating in Maryland, along with the Hollywood Casino in Perryville and another at Ocean Downs. The state has also issued licenses for planned facilities in Baltimore City and Allegany County.
The referendum passed by voters Tuesday will allow for a sixth license, and developers have eyed National Harbor and Rosecroft Raceway in Prince George's County as potential sites.
The approval of table games comes as the Maryland Lottery announced that casinos in the state pulled in $39.6 million in revenue in October. Maryland Live! pulled in about $30.6 million, down from about $32 million in September.
In addition to moving toward table games, Maryland Live! said it will hold a job fair next week in search of workers for its Prime Rib restaurant. The fair will be held on Nov. 14 and 15 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at its human resources department. The restaurant is hiring for food servers, bartenders and hostess/greeters.
John
1:07 pm on Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Can anyone reference, now that our casino has been operating for a little while, that any AA county school has received a single penny?
Michaelwritescode
2:18 pm on Wednesday, November 7, 2012
http://www.capitalgazette.com/news/business/maryland-live-hauls-in-more-than-m-daily/article_14164c69-f8d7-53cd-82c4-fb1c009c32e5.html
$~20 Million into the Education Trust Fund every month.
Doug K
2:31 pm on Wednesday, November 7, 2012
The casino opened in June -- it's now November, the next budget cycle won't start until after the General Assembly session. What money would you have expected to see?
john doe
9:04 am on Tuesday, December 4, 2012
http://www.capitalgazette.com/maryland_gazette/news/government/panel-to-award-county-shares-of-casino-revenues/article_939a4a9b-414d-5d14-806d-bfb3dff477c1.html
I was at the meeting to see.
Chip Chipperson
1:57 pm on Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Give it a rest. Even assuming you whiners had some emblance of a point, it's stillraising tax revenue regardless of how its being spent. How is that a bad thing? Think for yourself ! Don't just repeat Penn National's advertising lies!
TJ
2:43 pm on Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Agreed gambling is raising tax revenue. The turn off was all of the lies that it would increase spending on education. That's repeating our Comptrollers truths. Personally I could care less either way about expanded gambling but present the case for it with truth without lying where the money goes. It probably still would have passed and wouldn't have left a bad taste in many people's mouths about how basically every politician in MD on both sides lied to them.
Edward Charles
3:09 pm on Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Our Lazy Political Leaders successfully avoided having to work hard in the future to balance the budget. Let the casinos take money from the poor and middle in place of directly "raising taxes".
Hope the FBI and IRS are following the money.....
ryan pope
12:54 am on Thursday, November 8, 2012
@edward charles what an uneducated uninformed liberl douche
ryan pope
12:56 am on Thursday, November 8, 2012
even if not a penny is spent on schools, everyone is okay with a half a billion dollars leaving the state...really?...
Frank in Elkridge
11:37 am on Thursday, November 8, 2012
To be fair, expanded gambling in Maryland will take money out of the pockets of more Marylanders who don't normally travel to Charlestown or Delaware. So even if some of the money going to WV and DE will now stay in Maryland, the net "good and bad", "pro and con" effect is probably neutral. It keeps the money in Maryland but takes more money out of Marylanders' pockets. The good ol' "voluntary tax"....
John
1:28 pm on Thursday, November 8, 2012
I always laugh a the "creates revenue" statement. That's so insane it's not even worth addressing. If someone has $100 to spend for entertainment then they have $100 to spend for entertainment. They can go to a restaurant, the aquarium or gamble it away.
Regardless of how he spends the $100, no revenue is "created."
BadStatistics
2:01 pm on Thursday, November 8, 2012
John - what in the world are you talking about? It is revenue for the state, not revenue to be given back to people so they can spend it. It is revenue the State can use to offset funds that are needed to pay the education formula. It's good because the State is less likely to need to raise taxes (collect additional revenue) so long as gambling is providing a steady stream of funds to pay for education. The "Cost" of education is the same based on the formula, but how it is paid (revenue generation) is different.
Think of it like this - you have two options to pay for increases to education.
1) More taxes - adjusting how much $ you take home in your paycheck
2) A casino where people voluntarily give up their cash.
I'll take #2, all day.
John
2:59 pm on Thursday, November 8, 2012
So, to sum it up, our state couldn't make it with lottery dollars, couldn't make it with Keno, and couldn't make it with the sales tax increase? Ok - fine. So this is our last stand - gambling. And when that doesn't work - then what?
And when you look at states with gambling, they're disasters. NJ - disaster. NV - disaster. How does NV rank for education - you know, with all that gambling revenue.
Frank in Elkridge
10:49 am on Friday, November 9, 2012
Actually, Las Vegas would just be desert truck-stop if it wasn't for gambling, so there wouldn't be any schools there at all.
I agree that Atlantic City is decrepit, but New Jersey is wealthier and more well-educated than most other states.
Expanding gambling was approved by a majority of the voters in Maryland, so you can't blame it on O'Malley since he also was elected by a majority of the voters. In the final analysis, if you want to blame someone, blame your neighbors and fellow citizens who bothered to cast a ballot on election day.
Ralphie
5:25 am on Friday, November 9, 2012
Ehrlich - Fee increases.
O'Malley - Slot machines.
O'Malley - Sales tax increase.
O'Malley - More fee increases.
O'Malley - Millionaire's tax.
O'Malley - Table games.
What's next? Gas tax? More on the sales tax? When is it enough?
John
11:15 am on Friday, November 9, 2012
I asked for an article showing that single dollar has reached any AA county school. All I got was an article showing money going to the education fund.
So I'll ask again. Can anyone link me to anything showing that a single AA county school has received a single dollar? Thanks.
Frank in Elkridge
11:34 am on Friday, November 9, 2012
I don't remember where I read it, but the education trust fund money doesn't go directly to the school districts. It goes into the general fund first because subsidies for the school districts and state colleges are disbursed from the general fund. So there is no documented flow of each dollar that goes from the trust fund to the schools.
It's therefore possible that schools receive either more than or less than what goes into trust fund. Someone would have to analyze the annual budget to see what was appropriated to the schools and compare that with what came into the general fund from the trust fund, and then compare that to previous years' funding.
river_runner
7:55 pm on Friday, November 9, 2012
So the reality is that for every dollar that goes into the school fund from gambling a dollar from tax revenue is taken out. So the school budget is never increased - the money is moved to other budget lines.
John
12:35 pm on Friday, November 9, 2012
And when MD blows through the casino money maybe we'll legalize prostitution like in Clark County NV. Then after you gamble you can visit the local whore house before you go home.
Frank in Elkridge
10:19 pm on Friday, November 9, 2012
Actually the funding for schools in Maryland has increased every year even when tax revenue was decreasing during the recession. So there is reason to believe that the revenue from casino taxes have helped keep the school bugdets on the increase.