Maryland's Hollywood Casino: Is bankruptcy next

Maryland’s Hollywood Casino: Is bankruptcy next

Penn National, the owners of Hollywood Casino in Perryville, has requested that up to five hundred slot machines leased from the State of Maryland to be removed from its premises. Ownership states that Hollywood Casino has had a significant drop in revenue since Maryland Live in Anne Arundel County has opened. Before its competitor opened the number of weekly patrons declined significantly. Week nights at Hollywood there may be more casino employees on the floors than patrons. Penn National with the blessings of the State of Maryland has set their slot machines to the lowest payout mode possible. Twenty dollar bills evaporate in a matter of seconds, hundred dollar bills in a few minutes. This thesis is easily tested by anyone with the fortitude and finances to make the trek to this out of the way facility in Cecil County. The old adage build them and they will come is partially true. In the case of Hollywood Casino, patrons came but left when the machines went into no payout mode. Many of the floor personnel are aware of the situation and readily admit it is a problem for the casino. A few technical people note Hollywood’s slots are set to a high payout, but a lie can only go so far. Casino management cannot blame Maryland’s newest casino as the major cause of its decline in revenue and patronage.  Those who use to be regular attendees of this facility knew when the house was not paying and they were not paying. Deceptive advertisements of winning jackpots are flashed across large screens throughout the casino’s environment. A closer look will display a small number of low payouts interspersed with a rare high payout from the prior two months. This is pennies to a facility that rapes most of its patrons on each visit. With a reduction in slot machines and the potential for table games Penn National may be able to stay solvent. At this point in time their future looks bleak and getting worse daily. Cecil County is benefitting from funds drawn from a facility that steals from its customers, which make this county and the state accessory to fraud. There is gambling and then there is stealing, Maryland has moved onto the latter to enhance revenues for the treasury. Penn National should have studied the history of casinos that went under before opening Hollywood. There vast experience in other locations will not help in a state where fraud is common in its government and greed the currency by which things come to fruition. Watch for the auction sign along Route 95, when Penn National finally throws in the towel. Mark Davis MD author of the forthcoming book Obamacare: Dead on Arrival. platomd@gmail.com