Maryland Casinos Up 57% To $66.5m In June
July 8, 2013 3:34 pmThe Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency has released its casino figures for June, revealing a 57% increase in revenue to $66.5 million. Out of the state’s four casinos, Maryland Live generated a total of $51.4 million from slot machines and table games, while Rocky Gap brought in $2.5 million, Ocean Downs took $4.8 million, and The Hollywood Casino Perryville took $7.8 million in June.
The state of Maryland has now generated $608.4 million in gross revenue for the fiscal year 2013, which drew to a close on June 30th, representing a $76.8 million improvement on the $531.5 million predicted by the the board at the start of the year.
Accounting for Maryland’s greater than expected casino results was the state’s largest casino, Maryland Live, introducing table games to its gambling amenities in April, followed by the Hollywood Casino Perryville in March, and Rocky Gap Casino Resort in May.
However, while table games have been added to its casinos, the businesses have at the same time decided to scale back on the number of slot machines available thereby potentially generating less tax revenues for the state. Nevertheless, casino operators seem confident the readjustments will not negatively affect Maryland’s cut of the casinos’ windfall, with Horseshoe Baltimore’s general manager Chad Barnhill, explaining
“We were able to use numbers from other facilities to show that reducing the number of slot machines often leads to keeping the same market share, or even growing it. Our projections for the smaller number of slots with 130 table games shows a similar boon to the state as what we’d been looking at all along.”
This point seems to be borne out by David G. Schwartz, the director for the University of Nevada-Las Vegas’ Center for Gaming Research, who said that offering a mix of slots and table games should lead to improved revenue for casinos as dedicated table games players invite their family and friends who might otherwise not play the slots.
“You want a more diverse facility in every way possible,” said Schwartz. “It’s all about getting customers there.”