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Perhaps I may be giving Pennsylvania way too much credit.  Or perhaps it is simply too early to tell if Pennsylvania has officially knocked Atlantic City off of its horse and is racing ahead of the competition in other states like Maryland and Delaware.  There are so many factors to consider.  We are still in the midst of a recession and people just are not spending money like they used to.  Because Pennsylvania got involved in gambling a good deal before the recession hit, Pennsylvania is one of the states least affected by the recession.  The slot machine revenue really helped address the deficit issues.

The new Hollywood Casino at Perryville in Cecil County, Maryland had a hell of an opening week and the week is not even open.  Visitors from Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, and of course from within the state came out to get the feel of the newest gambling den in the region.  The casino has been slammed for the four days that it has been open.  There is no sign of it letting up seeing as the casino will be the only one in the state for the next few months and perhaps the rest of the year.

It is quite possible that when Maryland get its feet on the ground that it will give Pennsylvania as much a run for its money as Pennsylvania did New Jersey.  It is also not impossible that once the recession clears up the Atlantic City will remerge as a force to be reckoned with in the region.

Maryland’s current journey with slot machines and casinos is they have one venue open, the Hollywood Casino at Perryville.  There are four more venues to open at some point in the future.  The next one will open at the end of this year at the earliest.  The other three are delayed due to political and legal issues or simply because no operator can be persuaded to operate a small casino with an insanely high tax rate.  However, Maryland slot machines could have had a very different fate and a very different impact on the region.  I am not saying the impact would have been good or bad for the state or the country, but Maryland would have been a long standing symbol of gambling in the northeast.

It all changed in the 1960s.  Up to that point slot machines were perfectly legal in Maryland.  Well, maybe not perfectly, they were associated with a lot of organized crime activities; thus the ultimate reason for getting rid of them.  However, they were in place in Maryland, long before Atlantic City, New Jersey started dabbling in the gaming business in 1975.  With the absence of Maryland in the business, Atlantic City became the landmark for gambling in the northeast and almost a monopoly for gambling activity outside of Las Vegas, Nevada.

If Maryland had stuck with slot machines they might be the long standing gambling community that is now annoyed by the success of Pennsylvania, instead of struggling to get a program started in Pennsylvania’s shadow.

Maryland’s whole involvement in slot machines and gambling seems to be riddled with confusion.  I am not just talking about the recent difficulties the state has incurred in trying to get their newly licensed casinos up and running.  Maryland’s whole journey with slot machines and gambling has been one giant circle.  Unless you are a wheel, it is hard to move forward when you are spinning in circles.  They approval of slot machine gambling is not so much a new thing in Maryland as it is a return to old habits.

Most people are calling the Hollywood Casino at Perryville the first Maryland Casino.  In fact it is not that at all.  It is the first operating casino since 1960.  In 1960, Maryland decided to ban slot machines and casinos.  At the time the industry was still a haven for mob bosses and having mob activity is not exactly family friendly.  The games were outlawed and so they remained until 2008.

Maryland was convinced to return to slot machines mostly after several neighboring states had started building up their gaming offerings like Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Delaware.  Maryland is still behind these states in the way of offerings.  Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Delaware all offer table games like roulette and blackjack.  These games are still illegal in Maryland, but the casinos will offer electronic versions of some of these games.

It has been a long journey back to square one for Maryland.  Imagine where they would be if they had not interrupted the process.

I would say that the opening of the Hollywood Casino at Perryville has thus far been a success.  It is the first casino to operate slot machines in Maryland for decades and it seems that people have really missed gambling in the state.  The venue managed to attract 21,000 visitors in the last four days.  There is nothing more exciting that a brand new casino, even if it is only 34,000 square feet and only offers about 1,500 slot machines.  People clearly did not mind the size and came out of the wood work just to check the place out.  Only, I am not sure if the novelty will sustain itself.  Individual, patrons seem pleased with the venue, they are sure they will return, but none seem blown away.

“We make the rounds everywhere. It’s a nice place with a lot of new machines,” said 58 year old Jerry Shetzler.  That is great to hear.  The types of slot machines that the Maryland casinos has always been an issue of concern.  By Maryland state law, all of the slot machines and electronic gambling devices in the Maryland casinos are owned by the state.  That means the state is in charge of all leasing and purchasing of slot machines.  Some people were concerned that bureaucrats would not know the best slot machines to secure for a gambling venue.

Lauri Oyinlade, a 49 year old from Baltimore, came to check out the venue with her daughter.  Though she likes the new casino and will likely return, she says it is not enough to interrupt her regular trips out to Delaware casinos.

The Hollywood Casino Perryville may not be a very big casino, but it is strategically well placed.  The casino is only about 34,000 square feet and it only offers 1,500 slot machines and no table games.  But the venue is located just west of Interstate 95, of Route 222.  The hope is that the casino will advertised enough to pull commuters off the highway, just for a visit.  So far it seems to be working as the venue has over 21,000 visitors in just four days.  An accessible casino is likely to be a lucrative casino.

“Eighty-two thousand cars a day pass the Perryville exit, except now people in those vehicles have the option of stopping and enjoying slots in Maryland,” said Himbert Sinopoli, the Hollywood Casino at Perryville general manager.

Casinos do not need much work to generate business.  People are just generally interested in trying their luck.  When a venue is so conveniently located, it does not take much thought of effort for a person return from a long day of work to make a short pit stop at a casino for a drink and some fun.  The only thing that may deter people from the venue right now is how over crowded the venue has been of late and will likely continue to be for months to come.  Once other casinos open in Maryland and the newness of the Hollywood Casino at Perryville tapers off the casino should have much more reasonable crowds and a visit to the venue may seem more appealing to the after work commuters.

The election season might push Maryland’s gambling offerings in the direction it needs to go.  It is no coincidence that Governor Martin O’Malley dropped by the Hollywood Casino at Perryville this week.  He did not do it for the casino.  It is not as if people are more likely to stop by a casino to do some gambling if there is a chance that they will also get a chance to shake the Governor’s hand.  No.  Governor O’Malley stopped by just to have a few photos for his campaign that like his administration to gambling in Maryland.

It all fairness, slot machines were legalized under Governor O’Malley’s administration, but they have also had some embarrassing set backs.  Now that one of the casinos have finally opened, Governor O’Malley is trying his best to only associate positive memories with Maryland’s casino ambitions.  Having one casino opened and another on the way by the end of the year weakens the attack by competitors that could once say that there is not one slot machine yet operating in the state after they were legalized back in 2008.

Now the talk will likely be about what is to come next.  There is no doubt that table games will be the next thing needed to push Maryland casinos up the scale.  The casinos in Maryland currently offer electronic versions of table games, but there is nothing like having actually table games to class up a slots parlor.  Debates may push candidates to making promises of delivering table games.

Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley finally made his way down to the new Hollywood Casino Perryville, in Cecil County, Maryland. The venue had been open for at least three days before the Governor arrived.  However, I am sure the visit to the casino was more important to the Governor than it was to Penn National Gaming.  Slot machines tend to sell themselves, as is evident by the fact that more than 21,000 visitors have hit up a casino with only 1,500 slot machines over the course of four days.

I have no doubt that the visit to the casino was a part of the Governor’s campaign.  Governor O’Malley is up for reelection this year and slot machines are an important talking point thus far in the election season.  The whole point of introducing slot machines to Maryland was to provide funds for education in the state.  Unfortunately, the state has had serious financial, legal, and construction troubles getting the slot machine program off the ground.  This has not looked good on Governor O’Malley as competitors for his office claim they would have had more efficient ways of executing the program.

Governor O’Malley must be proud and relieved that slot machines are finally running in one venue.  There is a chance that another casino will open this year but it will not be until after the election.  O’Malley needed the Hollywood Casino at Perryville as a sign of him keeping his promise to the voters in Maryland, though it will not ensure his victory.

Highway casinos are going to do a lot of work in the next coming years.  At one point in time Atlantic City was the main option for gaming in the northeast.  Atlantic City was designated by New Jersey as their gambling district back in 1975.  Things have changed quite significantly now that several states in the region have not only legalized slot machines but table games as well.  There are casinos in Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey.  All of these states are accessible by Interstate 95.

The virtue of putting a casino right off the exit of a major Interstate is that people on their way to another, further casino will see signs for it and possible cut their trip short and visit a more local casino.  That is definitely what Penn National had in mind when they decided to build the Hollywood Casino Perryville casino right off of Interstate 95.  So far it seems to be working.  The tiny casino has managed to attract 21,000 visitors in only four days.  The fact that the casino only offers 1,500 slot machines, tells me there has been a steady and thick crowd in the casino.

I visited the Sugar House Casino on opening day in Pennsylvania.  That was a bit of a nightmare with people stepping over each other to get to slot machines.  I can only imagine how a bigger crowd in a smaller venue must feel.  That seems to be what they are dealing with in Maryland.

License plates are going to be a very important thing to the casinos in the Northeast.  Most state in the northeast that have legalized gambling have done so just for the sake of keeping the most of the state’s gambling dollars that are being spent elsewhere.  However, now that there is so much state competition between, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware, these states will have to do more than just keep their residents, they will have to convince neighboring gamblers to cross state lines.

I initially thought that this would be very difficult for a state like Maryland that only has slot machines while most of the other states already offer table games.  That does not seem to be the case and I should have known since Pennsylvania did just fine competing with Atlantic City, New Jersey with nothing more than slot machines.  When the Hollywood Casino Perryville opened in Maryland it was noted that the parking spaces were filled with cars from Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

It does not surprise me that there were gamblers coming up from Virginia.  Virginia is such a conservative state; it is not likely that they will ever legalize gambling.  There is also sort of a gambling desert south of Virginia.  The two closest gambling options are West Virginia and Maryland.  Maryland is probably the most convenient because of Interstate 95. I am not sure why gamblers would come all the way from the little state of Delaware where there are enough gambling options to play slot machines at a Maryland casino.

Holy crap, maybe we have all be underestimating Maryland.  It is possible that Maryland is a market that is ready to bust wide open and it just so happens that the state has been unfortunate enough to be afflicted with all of these legal delays.  If the Hollywood Casino is any indicator of how gambling starved the region is, then the other four Maryland casinos will have more business than they can handle.

The Hollywood Casino at Perryville, in Cecil County, Maryland is the first casino to operate in Maryland in decades.  After a long ban, slot machines were again legalized in Maryland in 2008.  Hollywood Casino at Perryville is the first of five casinos to open in the state.  There may be one other venue that will open this year as well.  Hollywood Casino at Perryville has only been open for a few days yet it has already drawn an insane crowd of gamblers.  The tiny 1,500 slot machine casino has been open since Monday, yet they have already managed to draw an estimated 21,000 guests.

The casino has noted that many of the license plates in the parking garage of the casino indicate that Maryland is doing more than just keeping gambling dollars within the state, but that they are also pulling gamblers from neighboring states.  The battle of casinos raging in the northeast will be won by the state that can steal the most business from other states.  Maryland has a good chance if they can keep this up.