The Ocean Downs racetrack in Maryland is now able to offer slot machine gambling since they were recently awarded their first license. The license gives the racetrack the opportunity to operate up to 800 machines starting as early as Memorial Day.

The state commission approved the licensing unanimously and this will be the first of five sites to begin offering slots as voters approved the sites last election. Donald C. Fry the chairman of the commission commented: “By our action today, we are showing this is moving forward.”

The owner of Ocean Downs, William M. Rickman Jr., commented that he is hoping to have the slots parlor ready for players by Memorial Day as he still has to obtain approvals such as a building permit. The customer base for the slots parlor should come from Ocean City which is five miles east of the track.

The next spot for slots approval is expected to be Penn National Gaming which is located in Cecil County. It is expected that this location will be putting in 500 slot machines. They are expecting to be approved by October 21st.





- 2009-09-29