Rocky Gap Proposes New Slot Machines, Outdoor Gambling
CUMBERLAND, Md. (AP) -- Cumberland's Rocky Gap Casino Resort is seeking Maryland regulators' approval to add 54 slot machines and create a new outdoor gambling area.
The request, if approved at Thursday's meeting of the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Commission, would boost the casino's slots total to 631 even as other Maryland casinos have been cutting back on slot machines, The Baltimore Sun reports (http://bsun.md/1R9Mqlf).
According to state records, the casino would place 24 of the machines on the current gambling floor and 30 in a new outdoor area.
The documents contain no cost estimate for the addition.
Casino general manager Scott Just has declined to comment until after Thursday's meeting, spokesman Joshua Taustein said.
Separately, the gaming control agency staff is recommending approval of the proposed merger of Lakes Entertainment, which owns the resort, and Las Vegas-based Golden Gaming. The commission will vote Thursday on the $128 million merger.
Lakes' principal asset is Rocky Gap, the once-troubled, state-owned resort it acquired for $6.8 million in 2012. Lakes opened a $35 million casino there in 2013 in an area that once housed the lakeside golf resort's conference center.
The casino, which also has 17 table games, generated $4.2 million in May, an increase of 12.7 percent over May 2014.
While Rocky Gap hopes to increase the number of slots, other casinos have been reducing their offerings.
In January, the commission approved requests by the Maryland Live and Horseshoe Baltimore casinos to eliminate 300 slot machines each and add more profitable table games.
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Information from: The Baltimore Sun, http://www.baltimoresun.com
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