Yesterday Maryland’s second slots casino opened with 750 gaming machines. It is hoped that Ocean Downs, opened around sixty years ago as a racetrack, will be revitalised as a slots facility. Electronic versions of roulette and blackjack are being offered on the 34,000 sq ft of gaming floor that houses banks of slots ranging from penny games to US$5 games.

In September the Hollywood Casino Perryville was the first Maryland slots casino to open since the 2008 ballot authorised five casino licences around the state. Two licences, in Baltimore and Western Maryland, have yet to interest investors but the state’s largest casino is about to start construction. A 4,750 slots facility is planned for a mall in Anne Arundel County. state officials are estimating that when operational the five sites together will eventually generate more than US$600 million a year for state education programmes.

In finally supporting the introduction of slot machine gaming in Maryland, state politicians are hoping that some of the money presently flowing to casinos in Atlantic City, Pennsylvania and other neighbouring states will now remain in Maryland. Ocean Downs casino has already provided an additional 236 jobs, a welcome boost to the local economy. Governor Martin O'Malley and several state and local dignitaries participated in the ribbon-cutting ceremony to inaugurate the US$45 million gaming facility in the heart of Maryland's beach resort community.

Ocean Enterprise 589 LLC President William M. Rickman Jr commented, "The January 4 opening is a testament to the dedication of our construction teams and all the people working to bring this gaming experience to the people of Maryland. We ran into some challenging construction delays-some bad weather at bad times, for example-that threatened to push back our opening. Thanks to the nearly non-stop work of our construction teams, we are able to open very close to our target date, and - most importantly - we have not compromised on quality to do so. Our guests will see that from the moment they hit the casino floor." (E-01.05.11)

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