maryland blackjack casinos
Maryland Blackjack

Politicians in Maryland are starting to show support for a proposed law permitting the five licensed slot casinos within the state to begin offering blackjack table games.

Maryland’s politicians are beginning to show support for House Bill 331, introduced by Del. Frank S. Turner (Democrat), which would permit the five licensed slot casinos within the state to offer table games.

The bill would permit blackjack card games, poker, craps and roulette at all five locations throughout the state.

Del. Turner believes that Maryland is losing out on a huge untapped source of revenue at a time when the state is close to bankruptcy. “It’s a matter of staying competitive with other states around us,” Turner said.

Three of the nearby states including Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey all offer table games. Del. Turner would like gamblers to play within the state instead of driving ‘less than 1 hour’ across the state line or playing at foreign online blackjack casinos.

The neighboring state of Delaware became not only solvent but is showing a surplus after permitting blackjack and other table games. Del. Turner argues that Maryland’s now empty coffers will quickly fill up as ‘the table games are highly popular and have bigger table limits.’

Four other bills were introduced during the same session, each by a different lawmaker. The common theme of all four bills is the expansion of gambling in Maryland.

House Bill 488 asks for 2,500 slot machines to be placed at Baltimore/Washington International Airport (BWI) which would make BWI the sixth largest operator of slot machines in the United States.

House Bill 735 would give permission to all American war veteran organizations in Maryland to own and operate slot machines. Maryland has close to 500,000 war veterans as of 2011.

As Mr. Nick Meisher reported on January 15, 2011, in the article Domino Theory is Proven as Maryland Debates Legalizing Blackjack, – “For close to a decade, Baltimore (Maryland) has always been an inch away from bankruptcy, due to a lack of a legitimately employed tax base. The legalization of Atlantic City/Las Vegas style table games is the only viable option left (to keep the city solvent.)”