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I guess this rules out Penn National Gaming.  As hard as the company has been fighting to establish a second casino in the state of Maryland they would have already jumped on Rocky Gap if they were at all interested.  I suppose that company will continue its campaign to establish an additional casino at some racetrack in the state.  It seems pretty obvious that the problem with Rocky Gap is that the venue is in a pretty slow part of the state.  Maryland would be better off selling the venue to a private owner and attempting to establish their fifth casino in an area that attracts more people.  Casino operators look for highly visible places when they establish a casino.  Many of them are located next to highways so that they can pull in people that are just passing through.  Rocky Gap has shown a failure to do that over the years and has thus been an almost impossible sell for Maryland.

When it comes to casinos and slot machines, much of success has to do with location, similar to the popcorn vendors that play movies to attract more people.  That is likely the source of the problem as to why Maryland is having such a difficult time finding an operator to take over the Rocky Gap casino.  The lodge has proven to be in a lousy location to attract a lot of customers.  Most of the time you will find casinos located next to major highways because often times their business comes from last minute decisions to visit a casino.  The remote location in Western Maryland for the Rocky Gap has made it difficult to attract business with its current offerings.  Slot machines are likely to help but there will still be a lack of pulling in business from passers by.

It has got to be a very hard sell.  The state never would have invested in Rocky Gap if it did not think it could eventually turn a profit as it was initially built.  They failed to draw enough business to make it worth their while.  It makes sense that they figured slot machines would be an excellent draw.  But it must be hard to convince casino operators to operate a venue that is notorious for being a money pit.  While slot machines have a lot of attraction power themselves, the casino operators to set up shop in a location that is already drawing traffic.  The fact that Rocky Gap has struggled for all these years is a sign that things like terrible weather or some other disruption in the economy will mean the future operator will have a lemon of a casino on their hands.

This is not nearly as exciting a prospect.  For now the only company that seems to have their act together enough to focus on operating an additional casino is Penn National Gaming.  Penn National has actually been striving pretty fiercely to get another gambling operation going in the state.  But they have mostly focused on getting slot machines to operate at one racetrack or another.  At the moment they currently own the Rosecraft racing venue.  I have my doubts that after just purchasing the venue they are ready to shell out the money for yet another casino; although the racetrack did come at a relatively cheap price.  There is a chance the Cordish Cos might branch out and acquire another slot machine venue, but after all of the legal money they have already spent in Maryland and all the construction money they are about to spend, I have a hard time seeing them dropping more money in the state.

The fact that the Maryland legislature is no throwing in the deal the this new operator is allowed to operate more than one casino in the state leads me to believe that Maryland is planning on creating more casinos in the future.  Rocky Gap is the last venue that needs an operator, so in theory there are no more casinos left to own.  There certainly has not been any details on how soon and how many new slot machines will be legalized by the state.  I am happy however that Maryland is finally in a place where they can officially start planning for the future. Hopefully, despite all the misfires, Maryland will eventually establish a successful gambling industry.

Penn National Gaming has been trying desperately to be allowed to operate more casinos.  They have set their sites on race tracks for the most part.  They first got into bed with the Maryland Jockey Club to get slot machines at Laurel Park.  They recently broke off that relationship in order to focus on getting slot machines at the Rosecraft raceway.  Now they may be able to center their focus and securing the bid for Rocky Gap as their is no longer a law barring them from operating that casino as well as the one they are currently operating down in Cecil County Maryland. Although they will still have the Rosecraft racetrack on their hands.  I get the feeling they would not have invested in a racetrack if they knew this opportunity would arise.

My suggestion is that they offer a new venue.  This might prove difficult as the process of selecting the five venues that would operate slot machines took a lot of negotiating.  There is almost certainly some scenario where some congress man only voted in favor of the bill because he was assured one venue would be in his district.  If that makes the process of relocating impossible, there is always the option of allowing the venue to operate more slot machines. There may not be enough room at the current Rocky Gap, but they can at least raise the allotted limit for slot machines and give the operator the opportunity to construct an annex to expand the casino floor.  This would at least give the operator hope of competing with some of the bigger casinos in the state.

It is likely that the rest of the casinos may protest having to pay the 67 percent tax charge when one casino in the state does not have to.  This tax lowering thing might just be enough to draw in a decent bidder, but it is likely going to cost the state money when the remaining for casinos demand to be able to pay 50 percent as long as the Rocky Gap venue has that privilege.  I completely understand the perspective of the Senate making necessary changes to generate interest in the states last slots license, but a change of venue might not be a bad next move to try.

That is why the Maryland Senate has approved a bill that will lower the gambling tax for that particular venue to 50 percent.  However, it is not a permanent deal.  The lowered tax rate would only remain in effect for the first 10 years, then it would be hike back up to the 67 percent rate that the other casinos suffer.  I have a feeling this will not be quite enough to convince a bidder to take on the project.  I think a permanent tax cut may be necessary to get this casino of the hand of the state.  A change in venue might also be in order.  Western Maryland is not the most easily accessed of regions and there is not a lot traffic for the casino to pull in.