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Maryland’s First Slots Casino in Decades Opens with a Splash

Posted on October 1st, 2010

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It has been five days since the doors of the Hollywood Casino Perryville opened its doors to the public. The first casino in decades in the state of Maryland has so far performed quite well, attracting visitors totaling more than 21,000 and counting as estimared by officials. With the glitzy grand opening Thursday morning, the newest attraction of the state is figured to draw more visitors, with the buzz expected to last for months. Casino officials have been quick to note that the crowd that the casino has attracted has not only come from the state, but from neighboring states as well, as the facility’s parking lot has also hosted cars with license plates from as far as New Jersey, Delaware, Virginia, Pennsylvania, as well as other areas.

Thursday saw the casino party again for its official opening, three days after it began to accept public players, and no less than the state’s governor, Martin O’Malley took a tour of the facility. He commented that the casino has been quick in drawing tourists in and thus “preventing dollars that used to fly across the border from leaving.” As with any other gambling facility in other states, the Hollywood Casino Perryville is counted on to funnel millions of dollars in tax revenue to the state and open thousands of opportunities for employment for the residents of Maryland. The location of the casino, which is just West off Interstate 95, will be an attractive locale not just for residents who are used to gambling out of the state, but for travelers who are using the highway to spend significant amounts in the 34,000 square foot facility.

So far, visitors in an out of the state have various opinions about the casino. Asked about the chances of him coming back, Jerry Shetzler, a contractor who is semi-retired from Bear, Delaware, who has travelled as far as Las Vegas in his gaming excursions, said, “We make rounds everywhere. It’s a nice place with a lot of new machines.” Meanwhile, a resident of Baltimore, Lauri Oyinlade, 49, said that despite the additional distance of 30 miles, she thinks she would still want to visit the casinos in Delaware. She adds, “Distance is not a problem.” 1,400 invited guests were the first to get their hands on the brand new machines in the Perryville casino as it conducted a test run Saturday, with the proceeds going to local charities. The success of the events of Saturday prompted casino officials to push the public opening date to Monday instead of the scheduled Thursday opening.

Slot machines were last used legally in the state in the 1960s. When it was finally banned during that decade, the residents of the state had to look somewhere else to get their fill of gambling. So, for the past 50 years, the residents of Maryland have gotten used to going to neighboring states like West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Delaware which have been allowing the construction of casinos in their states earlier than Maryland. With slots casinos now back in Maryland, a lot of gambling residents know that they still have to go to the neighboring states should they pine for a game of blackjack or roulette, unless they want to play electronic versions of these games, which most casino aficionados, is close but definitely no cigar.

After years of continuous exchanges between those opposed and those supportive of casinos, it was left for the public to decide whether casinos should be entertained back in the state. The referendum approved for five licenses to be issued to those who want to operate facilities in the state. So far, four licenses have already been awarded, and only two are already standing. The other facility about to open aside from the one in Perryville is the “racino” at the Ocean Downs horse racetrack. Two other facilities, one located in Baltimore and another in Arundel Mills have their development impended by legal technicalities. In the western portion of the state, the Rocky Gap facility will still have to conduct a second round of bidding just to have a licensee. With the Arundel Mills dilemma, which would have the slots in a mall, the governor said, “I don’t blame anybody for being against slots at the mall. I prefer to see them at race tracks. I think it’s important to do this right. I don’t think we should be bullied into accepting slots at the mall.”