Maryland casinos up 10 percent in July

Of the state’s four casinos, Maryland Live continues to dwarf the rest of the market with its 4,222 slot machines and 189 table games, and in July its revenues totaled US$ 58.2 million equal to 76% of the Free State’s total revenues. Maryland Live’s July revenue was also 11% higher than that reported for July of 2013.

Next, Hollywood Casino Perryville with its 1,158 slot machines and 22 table games recorded a 0.1% drop in revenue to US$ 7.5 million in July; Casino at Ocean Downs with 800 slot machines was up by 4.6% to US$ 6.1 million; while the Rocky Gap Casino Resort with 577 slot machines and 17 table games was up by almost 20% at US$ 4.2 million.

Since legalizing its casino industry in 2008, Maryland’s gambling revenues have been on an upward trajectory and in fiscal year 2014 so far the Education Trust Fund has received nearly US$ 270 million in gambling taxes.

Maryland’s casino market will expand even further soon, when the brand new $442 million Horseshoe Casino is slated to open in downtown Baltimore on August 26th, complete with 100 table games and 2500 slots.

It’s not all good news for Maryland’s gambling industry, however, as in fiscal 2013 the State lottery saw its revenues fall for the first time in 16 years to $1.7 billion, or 2% down from the previous year, with another drop expected this year. Furthermore, Maryland General Assembly budget analysis has little doubt as to the cause of the decline, namely that it is due to “increased competition from casinos,” backing up a claim made by another state report which claimed to find a “direct correlation” between declining instant ticket sales and the proximity of a retailer to a casino.

As one slot machine player called Tom told the Maryland reporter, recently: “I bought lottery tickets because I wanted to win money, and it was easy. But when [Maryland Live!] opened, I could win money just as easily on a slot machine, and I could also get free drinks and hang out with friends. So all the money I spent on lottery tickets, I started spending at the casino.”