HANOVER, Md. – With a countdown from 10, Maryland Live! casino opened 122 blackjack, roulette and baccarat gaming tables at 1 minute after midnight Thursday.
Thousands of people turned out to be the first players at the gaming tables. Slot machines at the casino have been in action for 10 months.
Chairman of the Cordish Cos. David Cordish and Baltimore-born actress Stacy Keibler threw out ceremonial rolls of the dice at the craps table.
“Table games are the icing on the cake at an already world-class facility,” Cordish says.
“We’re the largest taxpayer in the state of Maryland. We send the state an average of more than $1 million a day every day,” says Cordish, whose company owns and operates the 160,000-square-foot gaming floor next to the outlets at Arundel Mills.
In emails sent just hours before the tables opened, the casino urged players to turn out. The email read:
“Hurry! Live Table Games Opening in 2 hours and we have your table waiting! Be one of the first to try your luck at Live Table Games….
Prepare to get your game on with 122 live action table games, including Blackjack, Craps, Roulette, Mini-Baccarat, Fortune Pai Gow Poker, Three Card Poker, Four Card Poker, Mississippi Stud, Texas Hold ‘Em and Big Six.”
This summer, Maryland Live! will open a new poker room with 50 tables.
Maryland Live! is the second casino in the state to add gaming tables. Hollywood Casino in Perryville opened 20 tables in March.
Cordish says he’s not worried that Maryland Live! will lose business to future casinos in Baltimore and Prince George’s County.
“We’re going to do just fine,” he says.
“Bring it on.”
See Stacy Keibler roll the dice in the video below:
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