Maine Toying with Gaming Expansion Plan
The state of Maine is another state looking for financial help. Hollywood Slots General Manager John Osborne believes that adding table games like power and roulette would funnel more cash to struggling state coffers and create up to 180 new jobs for the local economy. Osborne is requesting that lawmakers authorize table games for the Bangor racetrack and casino. Osborne says even without another gambling facility in Maine or an expansion of state lottery games, Hollywood Slots is having trouble competing with casinos in southern New England because it doesn’t offer table games like poker and roulette.
Currently the facility is using slots as its only money generating activity. Unfortunately they aren’t proving to be as lucrative as they have been for other states. It’s an oddity in the market because normally slots are a sure-fire way to bring in funds. Osborne said, “One of the difficulties we have in our environment is we really don’t have a lot of people with a high household income. So when you look at some of these other jurisdictions, you’re sitting with several million people within 60 to 90 minutes of that location with household incomes that are 50 to 60 percent higher than what we have in Bangor.”
Osborne estimates that table games would generate approximately $8 million in revenue and result in 170 to 180 new jobs. Allowing the facility to add table games is among a menu of gambling options the panel is considering, including expanding the state lottery to include the mega-millions game and adding a keno game. In all, the committee is looking at options that could bring in up to $8 million to help balance the state budget. The state is like others throughout the nation. It is having problems making its budget and suffering with a huge deficit. The recession did a lot to hamper legislators from making ends meet. Most states are looking to some form of gambling to help build up funds. They are trying to avoid having to make huge budget cutbacks and eliminate government programs. Overall slots were the key to funding many state’s coffers, but Maine is proving to have a problem with solely relying on them. It is going to be a creative combination of gambling that is going to make it possible for the state to meet its budgetary needs in 2010.
Tags: Maine, roulette, slots, table game
