Before, any changes would have been subject to legislative review or public comment periods, a process that usually took months.Īdding the 6-5 payout option was among the first changes made under the new rule-making procedure.

Casinos are now required to adopt “standard rules” for table games, and any changes only need approval from the agency’s staff. Table game rules used to be set in regulations, but the commission repealed most of them earlier this year. Gordon Medenica, director of the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency, projects that the arrival of MGM - expected to draw many gamblers from Virginia across the Potomac River - will mean hundreds of millions of dollars more in state tax revenue in the casino’s first full year. The state received $510 million in revenue sharing from casinos in the last fiscal year, making it Maryland’s fourth-largest source of revenue after income, sales and corporate taxes. Maryland regulators say they want to help casinos succeed while ensuring the games are fair to players.

“Every state seems to change things and it creates problems.

“I personally think fiddling with the rules the way Maryland did was wrong,” said Alan Woinski, president of Gaming USA Corp., which publishes industry newsletters. Baltimore Sun eNewspaper Home Page Close MenuĮach state with legalized gambling establishes its own regulatory framework, and the myriad rules for each table game - which can shift the odds and the advantage in favor of the player or casino - vary across the country.

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