If Delaware approves sports books at their racinos it won’t necessarily mean a big drop in Marylanders tugging the one-armed bandits at home, but what it will do is send more Maryland dollars to Delaware in the form of sports junkies and gamblers heading to Dover Downs and Delaware Park for the NFL playoffs and March Madness. Think Maryland sports bettors going to Delaware for those weekends to spend their money on the sports books, hotel rooms, food and sales tax free shopping.
I’ll concede slots gamblers and sports bettors are not mutually exclusive groups, but the green light for slots in Maryland quite possibly just opened up a whole new market for Delaware to rake in Maryland dollars.
Keep in mind that slots here might also induce West Virginia to bring in table games at Charlestown as well forcing a similar scenario for blackjack and craps players.
Keeping with the betting puns--should Maryland politicians see the need to see the possible antes of Delaware and West Virginia we would have to go through the whole ballot question process again.

I always said Maryland should have struck first. Instead of just legalizing slots, the state should bring in a Vegas developer (maybe Steve Wynn since he has Maryland ties) and have them build the new arena in Baltimore. But instead of just making it an arena, make it a full fledged casino/arena with slots, table games, sports betting and luxury rooms. You would boost tourism, get the arena built for nothing and bring in taxes from the casinos. If you do it right, you can make it a jewel of the city.

Delaware's actions were seemingly unforeseeable, right?

With a major political obstacle removed, one that would have resisted this for the last four years, Delaware moves ahead in the race while Maryland begins training for the game.

While I feel like sports betting can be another revenue stream, I don't see many dollars flocking to DE or WV just because it's legal there. Persons living in MD do just fine when it comes to placing bets on games as needed and most know of ways to do it with a cell phone while still in MD.

As a state employee looking over my 2009 calendar for furlough days, I'm still hesitant to enter a regional gambling race. We obviously need the money, but the biggest hook for slots were schools and MD icons like Pimlico/Preakness as well. If the state shows that it can handle the peripherals that come with slots such as addictions and related crime, then look to expand. We still don't really know whats in the bottom of the can we just opened yet.

The thought of a Baltimore casino without a lot of leadwork scares me. Drop it in where the arena is now and "the block" could easily end up expanding to all of Baltimore Street where kids can see XXX movie ads on their walk from the parking garage to see Disney on Ice. Not to be a total homer or wet blanket, I do think another location could work though. I mean Rocky Gap Resort is a state owned money pit in an area that isn't already struggling with crime and would be more insulated from such side-effects.

Or we could just go for broke and legalize prostitution while we're at it rather than fight the growth of illicit activities in strip clubs downtown to tap that revenue since people have to travel out to Reno for that service still. Then be the first to legalize and tax marijuana like cigarettes next and we can go from deficits to no sales tax, no property tax and building that new Bay Bridge out of gold bars. (OK now that one was a joke)