Maryland holds off on internet gambling

Maryland says no to internet gambling

The state of Maryland has built up their casinos over the last two years and were considering allowing internet gambling. But on Tuesday, House Speaker Michael E. Busch said that Internet gambling, which he had put on the agenda for the special General Assembly session on gambling expansion that begins Thursday, will not be part of the bill lawmakers consider.

After conferring with Stephen L. Martino, head of Maryland State Lottery about the implications of online gambling, Busch said that he had decided that lawmakers do not have enough information to move forward with such an expansion.
 
Casino-operated Internet gambling -- which could potentially bring slot machine gambling, electronic poker and other games to every computer and smart phone in Maryland -- has so far been approved only in Delaware. That state has yet to implement its plan.

The state has also been debating whether to add another casino and allow table games there. If.  If Maryland adds a sixth casino, it would be in Prince George's County, near Washington D.C. and Virginia. But last week it surfaced among a series of demands by David Cordish, developer of the new Maryland Live Casino at Arundel Mills, as one of a series of measures that could lessen his opposition to a casino in Prince George's County.

Busch followed by telling Democratic delegates it was one of the subjects to be considered in the special session, but the idea received little support from members of the Senate committee that handles gambling bills.