Casinos and lottery games are major contributors to state education funding and to local social service programs. The impact of the coronavirus on the state lottery and gaming operations was the topic of a virtual hearing Tuesday of the House Ways and Means Committee. “The pandemic has just been a huge change in the way we do everything with our lives, much less manage our businesses,” said Gordon Medenica, director of the Maryland State Lottery and Gaming Control Agency. Now the casinos - and the government entities that rely so heavily on gaming revenues and income from the sales of lottery tickets - are trying to pick up the pieces and figure out how to proceed in a landscape that has changed dramatically.
“It’s been that kind of year,” said Randall Conroy, senior vice president and general manager of Horseshoe. In early March, the casino opened an outpost of Ben’s Chili Bowl, the iconic Washington, D.C., greasy spoon.Īnd on March 16, Horseshoe and Maryland’s five other casinos shuttered for more than three months due to the outbreak of COVID-19. In late February, celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay made a surprise appearance at the Horseshoe Baltimore Casino, to visit his eponymous steakhouse. Photo from Live! Casino and Hotel via WTOP. Live! Hotel, which is attached to the Maryland Live! casino.
