//April 10, 2013
The Cordish Cos.’ Maryland Live Casino at Arundel Mills mall will hold a ceremonial first roll of the dice at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, celebrating the start of table game play at the state’s largest commercial gambling facility.
The casino — already with more than 4,000 slot machines — plans to start running 122 tables just after midnight, including roulette, blackjack and poker. A separate poker room is expected to open this summer.
The Maryland State Lottery and Gaming Control Agency gave final regulatory approval for table games at Maryland Live on Tuesday, after overseeing a pair of controlled demonstrations.
Casino officials — including Cordish Cos. Chairman David S. Cordish, who will get the first throw of the dice — are betting that table games will draw even more business to Maryland Live, which set a monthly revenue record of $44 million in March.
They’re also hoping to attract and retain gamblers who will have another option in the Baltimore metropolitan area when Caesars Entertainment Corps.’ poker-focused Horseshoe Casino opens next year in Baltimore.
Maryland Live is not offering a free play incentive or running any other promotion to draw crowds to the casino in Hanover, a spokeswoman said. But the excitement generated by addition of table games — which tend to attract a younger crowd — is expected to drive traffic to the casino.
Hollywood Casino Perryville in Cecil County became the first Maryland casino to operate the games last month. The addition of blackjack and the like helped drive a 61 percent increase in the casino’s revenue over February.
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