Md. casinos continue record-breaking streak

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Maryland casinos generated $69.27 million last month, setting a new state record for total revenue from gamblers’ losses at slot machines and table games.

The three casinos that were open last year enjoyed year-over-year increases, including a 48 percent spike in revenue generated by Maryland Live Casino at the Arundel Mills mall, which captured $52.5 million between its 4,323 slot machines and 122 table games, including blackjack and roulette.

Hollywood Casino Perryville, which went into a financial free fall when Maryland Live opened last summer, improved by 9 percent over July 2012, generating $7.5 million from its 1,158 slots and 22 table games.

The Casino at Ocean Downs near Ocean City saw a smaller year-over-year increase of just over 1 percent, generating $5.8 million from its 800 slot machines. The Eastern Shore casino is Maryland’s only commercial gambling facility that has not yet added table games to its inventory.

Rocky Gap Casino Resort, which opened in May, enjoyed its biggest month yet by generating nearly $3.5 million in July. The Western Maryland casino operated 558 slot machines and 10 table games.

The previous statewide revenue record was set in May, when Maryland’s four casinos combined to generate $69.17 million. The state keeps 60 percent of slot machine revenue from the Casino at Ocean Downs, 50 percent at Rocky Gap Casino Resort and two-thirds at the other casinos. Most of the state’s share from each casino goes to the Education Trust Fund. Twenty percent of losses at table games also go to the Education Trust Fund.

At least two more Maryland casinos could join an increasingly crowded mid-Atlantic gambling market in the next several years. The Horseshoe Baltimore casino is expected to open near Camden Yards next year and Maryland’s sixth casino could open in Prince George’s County as early as summer 2016.