Slots Bids Turns Into Disappointment ANNAPOLIS, MD (wypr) - So far, Maryland's venture into the supposedly lucrative world of slot machine gambling looks like a fiasco.

Only six bidders came forward for five locations; little more than a third of the 15,000 available slot machines were spoken for and two of the bidders didn't even send along the required checks to cover their licensing fees.

Senate President Mike Miller, a key proponent of the gambling venture, grimly surveyed the wreckage.

"I think the obvious part is the so-called slot machine money that we were going to get over the next two years, we've just got to start recognizing very soon that is not going to materialize."

Most surprising to Senator Miller was that one of the check-free bids came from Magna, the owners of Laurel Race Course, which has been counting on a major boost from slots revenue to aid the ailing horse racing industry.

"I'm just shocked. I know it's been having financial troubles around the world but here's an opportunity to make some money locally, but then not to move forward to me is quite shocking."<



The lone bid for a slot machine license near the Rocky Gap State Park also came in without the required fees. That means, bids for two of the five potential sites may be disqualified. Donald Fry, chairman of the commission that will meet next week to take up the matter, said a formal review by the group is required to reject them.

"But it appears that these do not meet the basic requirements."

Meanwhile, further troubling to some slots proponents is that the strongest bid came in for a slots facility at Arundel Mills, the giant shopping mall in Anne Arundel County. That proposal, by Cordish Companies of Baltimore, would put a slots parlor with the maximum 4,750 video lottery terminals at a site heavily used by children and families.

Governor Martin O'Malley acknowledged the Mall site would not have been his first choice.

"I would have preferred to see them all located at tracks if I were the one vote that mattered in this, but I wasn't."

The governor was pointedly low-key in his response to the lack-luster bidding, which he had hoped would raise up to $600 million a year in state tax revenue. He noted the size, location and nature of bids would be reviewed by the commission charged with deciding which bidders, if any, should be awarded licenses.

"All of those things are issues the commission will be evaluating as they move forward. So, it's a process."

The three other bids were submitted for a 500-machine slots parlor in downtown Baltimore, 800 machines at Ocean Downs harness track in Worchester County and 500 video lottery terminals at a facility near I-95 in Cecil County.

Senate Miller said bids submitted in good faith should be considered. But he thinks the program should be re-designed to give up some of the state's share in order to make the licenses more attractive to bidders.

"What I'm suggesting is that the commission revisit this whole process."



But the commission doesn't have the power to sweeten the deal. That's up to the governor and the General Assembly. The question is whether state officials want to re-open the long and painful slots debate or perhaps write off the whole venture as a bad bet.

I'm Karen Hosler, reporting from Annapolis, for 88.1 WYPR
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