Hit Me! Table Games Coming To Md. Casinos As Early As March
PERRYVILLE, Md. (WJZ) -- Rolling the dice. Maryland is just weeks away from its first-ever casino table games. Hollywood Casino in Perryville will have craps, poker and blackjack as early as March.
Slots facilities all over the state are hoping these games bring a big economic boom.
Kai Jackson has more on the statewide plan to cash in.
Operators say the expansion of table games will make them full-fledged casinos.
When the Hollywood Casino in Cecil County opened in 2010, it was clearly one of the biggest things to hit the small town of Perryville. Nearly three years later, the operators want to up the ante on gambling.
Maryland voters approved the expansion of table games in a referendum last November. Now the Hollywood Casino says it will start table gaming in March.
"We're going to be able to draw some people that have never been here before and now give them a reason to want to come," said Bill Hayles, Hollywood Casino.
Maryland Live! Casino in Anne Arundel County has started training table game dealers.
"I'd rather be behind the scenes, though, dealing versus playing and spending my money," a dealer said.
Maryland Live! has plans to open more than 120 table games.
"We expect to be flipping cards and rolling die by early spring," said General Manager Robert Norton.
It's estimated the expansion will generate 1,200 new jobs at Maryland Live! and 100 new jobs at Hollywood Casino. Operators say the expansion of table games makes them more attractive to customers.
"This is going to make us a full-fledged casino," Hayles said.
Hollywood Casino believes they are--at this time--still waiting on permits from state regulators but say once the tables are in place, they think revenues will pick up.
Maryland Live! says it doesn't have a start date for table games yet. They're planning for sometime this spring.
