Question 7 passed yesterday. What does that mean for people in and around Maryland? As far as I can tell, it looks like there's going to be six casinos total.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...os_in_Maryland

Rumors I've heard--no citations; they're rumors--say poker will come to Maryland Live! and Perryville next year, to Baltimore in 2014, and to National Harbor in 2016.

Obviously this development will have a negative impact on WV, DE, and PA casinos, as well as to a lesser extent AC. I think the hardest-hit casino will be Delaware Park, which stands to lose the vast majority of Baltimore players. Charles Town probably won't lose a ton of market share until National Harbor is in play.

I'm happy to add an FAQ to this OP if people send me updates with links, but it's probably better to just post them in the thread itself until it gains steam/participation.


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MD LHE & Specialty Game Schedule

M --
T --
W --
R -- 20/40 @ MDL
F -- 10/20 LHE @ MGMNH
S -- 30/60 @ MDL
U --
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weeee, I cannot wait. I think Charles Town will be affected, Arundel Mills is significantly closer to a lot of Maryland (Montgomery and Howard County) and it is a better destination for families. It is also closer for the Baltimore area and many people drive to WVA instead of DE from Baltimore.

I live in Montgomery County. Charles Town has been the closest casino to me (about a 50 minute drive), yet I consistently drive up to Del Park, AC (and even Dover on occasion) to play rather than Charles Town. For multiple reasons, Charles Town just never caught on for me - the old time rake + slow dealers when the room first opened . . . the long waits, particularly before the new room, the lack of decent food options (although the new asian place is good), and the generally depressed atmosphere of the town itself. The crazy loose play was about the only benefit to the room . . . (no small factor, of course)

I suspect many D.C area people will take their business to Maryland Live once it opens.

Personally, once Harrah's Baltimore opens, that will likely be my room of choice (particularly as a CET Diamond). I'll drive the extra 10 minutes to play at a place where I can accumulate tier points, etc., that can be used in Vegas/AC... At least until 2016 . . .

Any one know if and when Ocean Downs will have table games?

I live in Baltimore City and pretty much agree verbatim with everything you wrote.


I think this is kind of exciting because prior to now, only LA was a place you could actually live in, raise a family in and have other pursuits while being near serious brick & mortar poker.

I think the pros who play at Parx (and occasionally travel an hour or two to play at the Borgata) might have a difference of opinion re the bolded part.

You're right, that's probably a little too broad. Let me add the qualifiers of being within 15 minutes of a serious brick&mortar room while also being that close to a major US city (DC/Baltimore)

I am one of those people fwiw. (though not a full-time pro)

Sir, what do you have against Philly!?!? (j/k)

+2

I also live in Montgomery County now, and I am super-excited to have an option nearby.

My main play will always be at the Borg in AC because I am not (primarily, at least) a NL player. I play the LHE and mixed-games for high-to-mid-stakes, so the Borg will always be my "poker home." This said, it will be really, really nice to have an option close to home for the random week night when I'm sitting around, wishing I could play, and have no other obligations.

I predict that, generally, any poker rooms close to DC and Bmore will succeed, and I won't be at all surprised if we see some solid mid-stakes LHE games go on the weekends, at least, once the rooms open. LHE is still a popular game in the DC area within certain demographics, and I predict that either a 6/12, 8/16, or 10/20 game would--much like at Parx when it first opened--be successful around here. What do y'all think? For my part, I hope so because it'd be nice for me to be able to go play smaller, local games between my regular sessions in AC. (Scratchin' that itch might make it easier for me not be such a donk-gamboooler in my first hour or two of play when I get to the Borg and just HAVE to play a lot of pots because I've been out of action for a week or two--and, yes, I know I'm degen, y'all!)

I wonder, too, how many poker tables those properties will run... It must be somewhat difficult to predict the level of demand in an altogether new market, no? I mean, look at Charlestown: they totally f'd it up! The most common complaint is that it takes FOREVER to get a seat in any game there, and (clearly) the fact that there are always people waiting to play in those games on the weekends has amounted to an indication to management that lazy oversight of the games/poor-quality dealing/etc. will be tolerated by the player-pool, so no need to fix the games, right?! I really hope that's not what we encounter at MD Live! I doubt very much that an MGM property (the one proposed for the National Harbor--or is that Bmore?--I get it confused, I think?) will open a room that is as poorly managed as Charlestown, e.g.

Bottom-line: THIS KICKS ASS, Y'ALL!!! WE ARE GONNA HAVE POKER GAMES CLOSE TO HOME TO TIDE US OVER BETWEEN TRIPS TO AC!

Would love to know more about the predicted timetable for getting the poker rooms open! Any info would be much appreciated. I can't imagine that it'll take toooooooo long, as these people are ready to start raping--oooops! I meant, "raking"--our games ASAP, no doubt!!

Finally, +1 to the guy who said that the AC pro's would take exception to the notion that it is impossible to grind a living playing poker outside of LA! I assure you that this is, quite simply, not the case.

WOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOO MARYLAND POKER!! POKER RULES!! Go Question 7!!!

I think Maryland Live will be a huge success when it opens. It will draw all the players from Baltimore, and a huge percentage of the people from around DC and the surrounding counties. Delaware Park and Charles Town will both take a huge hit.

I'm curious what will happen when the Baltimore casino opens in 2014. That will be two poker rooms about 10 or 15 minutes apart. One will be more successful than the other. My guess is that Maryland Live will be the preferred poker room for most players. It has a head start and will build up a player base. The Baltimore casino will be closer to the people who live in Baltimore City, but ML will pull players from Anne Arundel, Howard, and from DC and its suburbs. I think ML will have more players and end up being the more popular room. Obviously, I don't know this - it is just my guess.

Then, in 2016 when National Harbor opens (or where-ever they choose, since that site is not official yet), that will split up the players even more. You will always be able to find a 1/2 NL HE game at any of those places. But I prefer to play limit games and I know there are those who like mixed games, or Omaha, or other games. You generally need a larger group of players to have enough people there who want to start a table other than NLHE. I wonder how it will all work out. I hope the player pool doesn't get too diluted from spreading out to 3 different casinos.

I'm sure it will and if I had to guess I'd say they would be up and running by Memorial day to capitalize on the summer beach crowd.

This sort of dilution is the downside of gaming expansion for poker players. It's really the only thing that makes me wish that poker rooms had never become legal in PA, DE, WV, and now MD. The trip to AC sucks, but once you were there as of five years ago it was wonderful.

Is Perryville even going to try to compete and get table gaming/poker? They really should just shut that place down.

I agree. And I also agree that the non-NLHE games have a harder time getting spread when the player pool is diluted--which SUCKS. (These days, it seems to be the small-stakes NL player pool, and then there's everyone else--if the "everyone else" can't agree on a game and a stakes because the number of people making up the "everyone else" is diluted, no game besides 1/2 will ever be spread...) I don't really play NLHE very much, either, and 1/2 is, for me, about as interesting as watching paint dry... 2/5 is a little better just because it is, obv, a bigger game, but I so hope that we don't end up with a bunch of weak rooms, each spreading three or four 1/2 NL games along with a single 2/4 or 3/6 LHE game. That would really be--from my perspective--the worst outcome. By no means do I think any of these rooms will present a viable option for me, such that I won't have to make the trip to AC to play the 20/40 and 40/80 LHE games, as well as the 40/80 and 75/150 mixed games, but it sure would be nice to see something spread other than the typical 1/2 NL and 2/4 LHE games that we see way too much of these days... Here's hoping!

I will play at MD Live (about 20 min) until Harrahs (about 10 min) opens. I asked in the MD Live Hype Thread but this might be more of a MD question. Are we to expect a regular NL spread in games like the near by states? or some type of bs CAP game? Hopefully MD sticks with the east coast regular spreads like DP an CT. Hopefully the rake structure wont blow but knowing MD it is a possibility.

Maryland Live implementation article.... (not much more than the general stuff you'd expect)

http://odenton.patch.com/articles/ca...on-table-games

Someone in the other thread said that MD's proposed tax on table games is lower than DE's and WV's rates, so I'd expect to see rakes similar to or lower than rooms in those states. If I had to venture a guess, I'd say we'll see 4+0 or 4+1 rakes, which I think is reasonable given neighboring states' rakes.

That's good news. I haven't been to ML, but I hear it's a nice place, with good places to eat, restaurants outside as well, etc. Much more appealing than DelPark, which of course has almost nothing in this regard.

I am very much looking forward to poker in MD. Once it is known, let's organize a 2+2 meet/celebration!

Yeah I read that and hopefully we see passed down at the Rake level and maybe even comps. Aside from diluting the games in the areas, it should be good that there is now competition and incentive for the casinos to give out comps.

IMO I think NH and Harrah's Baltimore can surprise you...Do not sell short the tourist attraction of DC and the Inner Harbour...Not to mention after a football game at either location...Harrah's plans to bring a WSOP Circuit to town and a WPT stop at either Harrah's or NH would not surprise me...

The future of MD Live after Harrah's and NH get up and running will be interesting...I see them being a distant #3 with Low limit games and very little upper limit or mixed games getting spread...This scenerio is just fine with me..

NH is very likely to be built and operated by MGM.

so it will in that case very unlikely have any WSOP affiliations.

perhaps WPT, but this is all 2016 anyways.

Ive been all over the web...nothing yet from them....
( Ocean Downs in Ocean City, md )

I havent seen this brought up yet, What about alcohol being served like in AC/Vegas? I know I heard it was against delaware law for some reason, does the same law apply in MD?

I sent them an email and got the standard "thanks for your interest but we are just in the beginning stages so feel free to email us later" response

Just did the same....maybe it will get their asses in gear !
I hope its befor enest spring.....Im sck of driving 45 minutes to Harrington!