Big Stakes In Battle To Provide Maryland With Gambling Machines

One of the top businesses in the world right now is being a slot machine provider. Gambling expansion is taking place in record amounts, and with each new casino comes the need for more machines.

In Maryland, lawmakers have expanded their gambling options over the past couple years and several casinos are set to open in the next couple of months. The Maryland Lottery Commission will take the first step towards those openings when they formulate a list of eligible slot providers.

The companies will be some of the usual suspects who's machines are found in prestigious gambling destinations such as Las Vegas and Atlantic City. Others will be on the list because of their innovative gaming machines of the past couple of years.

In recent years, the field has grown extremely competitive. The old days of three reel slot machines are long gone, replaced by slots that play more like video games than slot machines. As the casino industry has evolved, so has the slot manufacturing field.

In many states, the casinos themselves have the right to choose which machines will be in their establishments. In Maryland, however, the state will make the final decision. The casino operators will have some input, but the state will make the final choices.

It is expected that the contract for the machines will go to several different companies and not just one. That has not stopped the companies, however, from pouring millions of dollars into their lobbying efforts.

Bally Technologies is one of the bigger slot producing companies, and again they may be a major player in Maryland. The next few weeks will be crucial in the process, and with the lobbying money now spent, companies such as Bally's can only sit back and wait.

February 21, 2010
Posted By Terry Goodwin
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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