The Gambling Control Board in Maine met to talk about regulating casino table games in its capital, Augusta, yesterday – following suit of Penobscot County, where voters cleared the way for table games at Bangor’s Hollywood Slots last week.
After the meeting on Tuesday, Hollywood Slots General Manager, John Osborne, affirmed that he was happy as larry at the thought of adding table games. He said: “We are going to have live poker, which will likely be Texas Hold ‘Em, that seems to be the game of choice today. As well as Craps, Roulette, Blackjack, Let It Ride, and 3 Card Poker.”
The gambling control board is now discussing the regulatory process that needs to be in place in order for Hollywood Slots to begin offering those games.
Board Director, Patrick Fleming, said he was confident they’ll have all that will be sorted by spring time, when Hollywood Slots plans to unveil table games. He said: “So we’ve got a lot of work to do. We have a very small staff. But they understand that and we’re going to work with them all the way to make sure we meet those deadlines.”
Osborne said they plan to add 89 new jobs, adding: “A little bit more than half of that will be dealers and supervisors in that area. The balance will be people that are in support departments up to and including increased capacity in the hotel, food and beverage, our hospitality areas like player services, and security guards.”
With each of those new hires having to be licensed by the Gambling Control Board, Fleming added: “They’re going to have to go through the same background that everybody else has up to this point. There’s statutory requirements are that they have to meet and that’s what we do.”
The board will meet again next month. What do you think their final decision will be?
