In a sign of the economic times (and a 66 percent tax rate), when the deadline passed last month for bids to be submitted for licenses to operate slots at five locations across Maryland, only six proposals had been submitted.

And when two of the bids were thrown out for not including the application fee, only four remained.

In Anne Arundel County, a bid for a slot-only casino at Arundel Mills Mall seems to be a winner after the gaming commission rejected a bid from Magna Entertainment, which wanted to install 4,750 slots at its Laurel Park racetrack. PPE Casino Resorts Maryland LLC, owned by principals of Baltimore’s Cordish Company, is proposing a 4,750-machine casino at the sprawling retail complex not far from the racetrack.

Some of the other bids were modest in size. Penn National Gaming submitted a bid for a $75 million slot casino in Cecil County, near the Delaware border, with only 500 slots. The state’s gaming law permits up to 2,500 slots at each facility.

Baltimore City Entertainment originally submitted a bid for a casino in Baltimore with 3,750 slots, but paid the licensing fee for only 500 machines.

And a group proposed 500 slots at Ocean Downs on the Delaware border.

Empire Rocky Gap LLC, a subsidiary of New York’s Empire Resorts, submitted a bid for a 750-machine casino at Rocky Gap State Park in Allegany County, but failed to include the fee, leaving Rocky Gap without a bid.

It’s expected to take months to sort out the details.

By GGB Staff

Staff writers for Global Gaming Business magazine. Las Vegas, Nevada.

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