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It may be possible that the long standing love-hate relationship between the state of Maryland and slot machines is the reason slot machines are having such a hard time getting off the ground.

Very few states have danced back and forth with slot machines as much as Maryland.  At one point in time they had slot machines, then labeling them the scourge on society they got rid of them.  Then for years afterward they flirted with the idea of bringing them back.  Now, after a Constitutional amendment was voted on this past November, slot machines are back.

The amendment made room for 15,000 slot machines in the state, but so far companies making bids for the consoles have not even requested half that number.  Only six groups made bids for slot machines and their combined request comes to 6,550 slot machines.  Even more tragic is that two of those groups did not follow the rules and neglected to pay the upfront fees required.  The board reviewing the bids was forced to through out their bid reducing the number of companies to four and the number of slot machines to 5,800.

From here the mess only gets stickier.  One of the rejected bidders is already prepping a court case to fight the government for throwing out their bid.  Also, one of five locations authorized to operate slot machines issued no bid to request slot machines. 

As a result of the madness, the one legislator who fought with all of his might to reintroduce slot machines to the state would like the whole bidding process to start from scratch.

 

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