Panel considers possible expansion of slot machines to OTB facilities.

A trio of off-track betting operators are betting on a proposal to allow them to offer slot machine gambling.

That proposal was the subject of a meeting Tuesday by members of the Senate Budget and Taxation and the House Ways and Means committees, who are considering it as an amendment to a bill that would have authorized betting on "historical” horse races. The amendment would allocate approved, but unclaimed, slots to OTB facilities.

Some lawmakers on the panel asked if the proposal would effectively create mini casinos. But owners of the facilities — Long Shots in Frederick, River Boat on the Potomac and GBoone’s in Boonsboro — said the request was about ensuring the survival of the businesses through cooperation with existing casinos, not by cannibalizing the market.

"The reality is they’re bleeding out, right?” said Sen. Paul D.Corderman (R-Washington and Frederick), lead sponsor of Senate Bill 1240. "So the OTBs and their current model will fail to exist, if not now, in the near future.”

Corderman estimated the state could lose $10 million if that happened.

"Some of the folks may or may not care about it, but these are locations that are in our communities,” he said. "They support and impact our local citizens and things like that. And they will cease to exist.”

Sen. Paul Corderman (R-Washington and Frederick) said some off track betting sites are in danger of going out of business if they can’t offer slot machines. (Photo Bryan P. Sears/Maryland Matters)

Corderman proposed to Tuesday’s legislative work group of delegates and senators the transfer of some slot machines from six existing casinos.

Maryland’s casino industry started with five facilities. Voters, in approving adding gambling to the state constitution, approved language assigning up to 15,000 slot machines to be divided between those facilities. Another 1,500 were added when a sixth casino was approved.

https://marylandmatters.org/2026/03/25/panel-considers-possible-expansion-of-slot-machines/