casino and gambling industry

About 10,000 people are expected to come to the city for the grand opening of the Horseshoe Casino Baltimore one week from today, a key early test for city officials and business leaders eager for a smooth launch.

The Maryland Democratic Party would have us believe it's Larry Hogan's use of public funds that's worrisome, not the casino interests funding Anthony Brown

Open gambling tables and slot machines were easy to find this week at the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino, now that the standing-room crowds once common to high tourist season at the world's most famous boardwalk have found other spots to visit and place their bets.

Maryland's largest and most lucrative casino threw an Independence Day party this month for one of its biggest neighbors: Fort Meade, the massive Army base just five miles down the road.

People who operate, manufacture and distribute electronic games say their business is threatened by new regulations for their industry drafted by the Maryland State Lottery and Gaming Control Agency.

Maryland's four casinos brought in $72 million in revenue in June, an 8 percent jump over the month a year earlier, lottery officials said Monday.

The owners of Maryland Live casino – the largest in Maryland and one of the top revenue casinos on the East Coast – formally applied on Monday along with Penn National Gaming, Inc. for a license to develop a $750 million hotel and casino in the Hudson Valley region about 60 miles north of Manhattan.

The 2,500 slot machines being installed at Horseshoe incorporate the latest technology and pop-culture themes, ranging from "The Walking Dead" to the retro 1960s-era "Batman" television show. Unlike yesterday's one-armed bandits, today's machines are more akin to video games and some even mimic arcade rides, rocking your chair like a mechanical bull.

Baltimore County received $1.5 million to fund small, women and minority owned businesses through the Maryland Small, Minority and Women-Owned Business Loan Fund, according to a Wednesday, June 18 county-issued statement.

Since legalized gambling began in Maryland, tens of billions of dollars have been wagered in the state's casinos — spinning off funds for schools, the horse racing industry and local programs that have financed everything from paving and police to iPads and small business loans.

Maryland's four casinos raked in about 10 percent more revenue in May than they did a year ago that month, although two of the four locations recorded slumps, according to figures released Thursday by the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency.

Stakeholders in Maryland thoroughbred racing are as optimistic as they've been in decades, just a few years after the historic industry seemed on the verge of collapse.

When Horseshoe Casino Baltimore opens later this year, it will serve as more than just a proud new gateway to downtown Baltimore. The $442-million casino entertainment facility will create 1,700 new jobs downtown — infusing new tax revenue into the community and lowering property taxes for city residents.

Maryland's four casinos raked in nearly $71.5 million in revenue in April, mostly on the strong performance of Maryland Live Casino at Arundel Mills.

Horseshoe Casino Baltimore is working with the city of Baltimore to hire about 1,700 people for jobs ranging from dealers to restaurant servers before it opens this summer. The city wants to help city residents get the jobs since its unemployment rate is currently about 8.3 percent.

John Besh and Aaron Sanchez will collaborate on a restaurant project at the Russell Street casino

Operators of nine McDonald's throughout Maryland have agreed to pay more than $250,000 in back wages and damages to 138 workers after the U.S. Department of Labor found violations of minimum wage, overtime and child labor provisions.

Baltimore Horseshoe Casino reaches out to city communities in attempt to hire local employees prior to launch.

The owners of the Holiday Inn Express on Russell Street, as well as other businesses in the area, said they are betting on the Horseshoe casino to put Carroll-Camden on the map, and hope it will bring spillover economic development to the largely industrial zone.

Such a change, however, is going to involve more than just more breeder incentives and bigger purses. Those changes, however, seem to have been a good start at sparking a revival.

January's cold likely chilled the take at Maryland's four casinos, which got a somewhat lackluster start to 2014. The casinos brought in about $66.2 million in revenue in January, the state said Wednesday.

Carroll County Delegates approved ten pieces of local legislation Friday, including bills that would allow charitable organizations to host casino night fundraisers, increase the salaries of the sheriff and orphans' court judges, and increase alcohol license fees.

Though MGM Resorts International just won the state's Prince George's County casino license last month, the company has had a point man on the ground in Maryland for more than a year.: Lorenzo Creighton.

Maryland's four casinos brought in about $65 million in December, their lowest monthly revenue since the Rocky Gap Casino Resort opened in May.

The Hollywood Casino in Perryville, which caters to a clientele from the Philadelphia-Baltimore corridor, grossed more than $5.5 million in November. But, total revenue was down in November for the past two years since Maryland's first casino opened its doors in 2010.

By the end of 2016, MGM Resorts International plans to have built a nearly $1 billion facility at National Harbor in Prince George's County — high on a bluff above the Potomac River — that analysts say will transform the Maryland gambling market, potentially raising the state's profile as a destination for high rollers from around the world.

There's reason to believe a proposed National Harbor casino would be the most lucrative of the three proposals the state chose from, but big risks remain in Md.'s latest gambling expansion.

MGM Resorts International has been selected by a state commission to build an $925 million casino resort in Prince George's County. The panel voted 5-2 in favor of awarding a license to MGM, which proposed a massive casino beside Interstate 95 at National Harbor.

The rise of Baltimore's casino produces mixed feelings.

With less than a week to go before state officials are expected to award a Prince George's County casino license to one of three final bidders, one of those bidders is crying foul.

Putting a casino at National Harbor would bring in more money than two other proposed sites vying for the state's sole casino location in Prince George's County, consultants say.

KO Public Affairs is the poster child for Maryland Democratic crony capitalism. Their business model relies on getting their friends in government to take more dollars from taxpayers to give to their corporate clients.

By the end of December, the location of the state's newest casino will be determined in Prince George's County, and one of three companies will begin spending hundreds of millions of dollars to build it.

Revenue from Maryland's four casinos totaled nearly $66.4 million last month, up $1.04 million in September, the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency reported Tuesday.

Ten million people passed through the doors of the Maryland Live casino over the past year, seeking fortune — or at least entertainment — at slot machines and poker tables. But some ended up leaving without their cellphones or wallets, becoming victims of petty crime at the state's largest casino.

Playing the final hand of the week in a round of bidding for the right to build a casino in Prince George's County, MGM Resorts on Friday proposed a $925 million resort at National Harbor.

Aiming to secure a license for a Prince George's County casino, Greenwood Racing Inc. said it would ante $100 million into local road improvements and generate $30 million a year in tax revenue for the state, in part by accepting a higher state tax rate than required by law.

Maryland gambling control officials said Tuesday they're "concerned" about allegations in other states involving the company building Baltimore's casino, Caesars Entertainment Corp., and are gathering information.

The parent company of Baltimore's casino said Monday that one of its businesses is the subject of a federal investigation into money laundering — and that it was pulling out of a $1 billion casino venture in Boston.

Maryland has one of the best-educated populations in the nation, but it also has an achievement gap between children of poverty and those who have more advantages. The proposal by two candiates running for governor to expand pre-K has potential to help close that gap, but it is not a panacea.We have questions like, what will it cost, will overcrowded schools have the space and will it be mandatory or optional.

More money has been rolling into the state's casinos, but changes would have to be made at the legislative level for more of the funds to go to schools.

Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler suggested Thursday capping the amount of casino cash given to the horse racing industry and spending the rest on early childhood education, an investment Gansler said would be among his most important priorities if he is elected governor.

Offering his take on an emerging issue of the 2014 election for governor, Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown will roll out a plan Tuesday to make pre-kindergarten education available to all Maryland public school children.

Maryland's four casinos pulled in $65.3 million in revenue for September, a drop from $71 million from the month before, the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency reported Monday.

A new incentive program aimed at revitalizing Maryland's sagging horse industry started Thursday with the opening of the Fall Meet at Laurel Park, offering expanded bonuses for Maryland-bred horses that win, place or show.