\nBALTIMORE (AP) \u2013 At the Horseshoe Casino\u2019s grand opening, showgirls adorned in gold glitter, beaded loincloths, feather headdresses and fuchsia false eyelashes stood atop pedestals in the courtyard, while VIP patrons in high heels and higher hemlines downed glass after glass of champagne.<\/p>\n
\tThe glitz and glamour Tuesday suggested someplace flashy like Las Vegas or Atlantic City. But the scene beyond the aerial acrobat winding her way up and down a cloth ribbon suspended from a chandelier made of fake diamonds and wine bottles served as a reminder: You\u2019re in Baltimore, baby, it says so right there, in big gray block letters on a smokestack at the trash plant just past the entrance.<\/p>\n
\tThe Horseshoe, a Caesars Entertainment Corporation venture that cost roughly $442 million to build, reflects a major nationwide shift in the industry: As tourist destinations like Atlantic City, New Jersey, plunge into decline, gambling moguls are eyeing rust belt cities like Philadelphia, Cleveland and now Baltimore, as casino locations.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cFor a while the trend was to build casinos in destinations like Las Vegas, Biloxi, Atlantic City. Now, the trend has shifted to be more building casinos in urban areas like Cincinnati, Columbus, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and now, Baltimore,\u201d said David Schwartz, director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThere\u2019s a growing embrace of gambling. Initially it was something people wanted to keep away from the urban core,\u201d he said. \u201cNow, it\u2019s a part of American life and if you\u2019re going to have it, you should have it in a place where there are a lot of people.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tAs casinos spread, he said gambling monopolies traditional destinations are crumbling. The Showboat Casino and Hotel in Atlantic City, a Caesars property, is slated for closure this weekend. Another casino, Revel, is to close next week, and Trump Plaza will shutter Sept. 16. Thousands of workers in New Jersey are scrambling to find jobs. Some will, or already have, at Horseshoe.<\/p>\n
\tBaltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake has touted the casino as a boon for the city and a boost to tourism, with 2,400 new employees \u2013 more than half from Baltimore.<\/p>\n
\tBut Horseshoe is joining an already crowded Maryland casino market. Although Horseshoe is the first casino to open its doors in Baltimore, it\u2019s the last of five casinos initially approved to operate in Maryland.<\/p>\n
\tBefore visitors to the Baltimore casino exit the highway, they\u2019ll see a billboard advertising Maryland Live. And the competition isn\u2019t friendly: Maryland Live didn\u2019t hesitate to sue a former employee who allegedly stole a list of high-rolling gamblers and used it to recruit clients to Horseshoe, where she now works.<\/p>\n
\tMaryland lawmakers voted to allow slot machine casinos in 2007, and voters approved a constitutional amendment the following year for five casinos. Lawmakers voted in 2012 to allow table games like blackjack and a sixth casino near the nation\u2019s capital, and voters passed the expansion in a statewide ballot question that year. The Horseshoe Casino is nestled between a freeway entrance and the Baltimore Orioles and Baltimore Ravens stadiums.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThis is an urban casino, meant to meld into the rest of the city,\u201d Gary Loveman, chairman, chief executive officer and president of Caesars Entertainment said Tuesday. He predicted it will spur development all the way to Ravens Stadium.<\/p>\n
\tThe Horseshoe\u2019s opening drew massive crowds of locals and out-of-towners, corralled into neat lines in a nearby lot as they waited for the clock to strike nine. More than 15,000 gamblers cycled through the casino\u2019s doors in the first 12 hours, according to Dave Curley of Sandy Hillman Communications, the agency representing the casino.<\/p>\n
\tClarice Nelson, 67, took public transportation from her West Baltimore home to the Horseshoe at 9 a.m. Tuesday so she could be the first patron to pull the lever on a brand new slot machine.<\/p>\n
\tNelson said she gambles regularly on monthly trips to out-of-state casinos, but now that there\u2019s a place to play black jack just 20 minutes from her home, those trips may dwindle.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cPeople who could go to Atlantic City or Dover will come here instead,\u201d Nelson said. \u201cI just got a feeling about this place.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tNelson wasn\u2019t the only one.<\/p>\n
\tMinutes before the clock struck nine, Robert Zeitler, 65, who was six people deep in line, waved a $1 bill at Nelson. He wanted his money to accompany the person at the head of the line, even if it couldn\u2019t be him.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cHere, take this!\u201d he said. \u201cLet\u2019s make this the first dollar.\u201d<\/p>\n
No replies were posted for this topic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BALTIMORE (AP) \u2013 At the Horseshoe Casino\u2019s grand opening, showgirls adorned in gold glitter, beaded loincloths, feather headdresses and fuchsia false eyelashes stood atop pedestals in the courtyard, while VIP patrons in high heels and higher hemlines downed glass after…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-casino-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7929"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7929\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}