Gambling in Maryland and Beyond: What to Know Dr. James Karmel Harford Community College [email protected] November 2013 Macau casinos Indian casinos in California Foxwoods Resort, Connecticut; Pequot-owned Indian casino Maryland Casinos • 1943-1968: legalized slots operated in five southern MD counties • 2007 - Maryland Assembly sets VLT tax is set at 67%, 2nd highest in US • 2008 – MD voters approve five casinos (VLTs only) • 2012 – Maryland Assembly lowers VLT tax for casinos, adds table games at 20% tax • 2012- MD voters approve addition of table games & 6th casino in state • 2013- Maryland Live! (at Arundel Mills Mall) becomes most lucrative casino in mid-Atlantic market (MD, DE, PA, NJ) • 2014-2016: Maryland will reach voter-approved threshold of six casinos around state 2008, 2012: Maryland voters approve six casinos & table games Anne Arundel County Rocky Gap State Park Cecil County Baltimore City Prince George’s County Worcester County (Ocean City area) live chicken tic-tac-toe- Mt. Airy Casino (2009) Game House Edge Roulette 5.3% Craps 1.6% Craps (double-odds) .6% Blackjack (average player) 2% Blackjack (6-deck basic strategy) .5% Baccarat (no tie bets) 1.2% Caribbean Stud 5.2% Let it Ride (optimal strategy) 3.5% Pai Gow Poker (ante/play) 2.5% Robert Hannum, “Casino Mathematics” http://gaming.unlv.edu/casinomath.html, Video Poker .5-3.5% accessed 13 Nov. 2013 Slots 5-10% THEO (Theoretical Loss)= average bet X hours played X decisions per hour X house advantage THEO example for average blackjack player average hours decisions house bet X played X per hour X edge = THEO $20 3 80 .02 $96 Forum Shops, Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas Installing security cameras at Maryland Live! Keith Taft & his wearable Blackjack computer from the 1970s online gambling Gambling in Maryland and Beyond: What to Know Dr. James Karmel Harford Community College [email protected] November 2013.