WAMU 88.5 : News

Filed Under:

Ocean City Business Owners Indifferent About Table Games

By: Bryan Russo // August 10, 2012
Play associated audio
comments

Businesses in Ocean City are reacting to the Maryland Senate Committee's vote to allow table games in casinos, including Ocean Downs casino, which is just a few miles outside the resort.

For most business owners in Ocean City, the summer of 2012 has not been a record breaker.

"To sum it up in a word: unpredictable. The spending patterns and the visiting patterns are just unpredictable," says Danny Robinson, who owns five businesses in Ocean City.

He says people are opting for shorter stays this summer, and are increasingly choosing to buy groceries and staying in rather than dining out at local restaurants.

But perhaps surprisingly, there is an overwhelming sense of indifference to the idea of table games coming to the Ocean Downs Casino. That's because Ocean Downs will still not be allowed to serve free drinks to gamblers or have a marquee restaurant, as per the fine print in the law, which has always been the tourism industry's main concern with the idea of a casino on the coast.

Ocean Downs Casino has been fighting for table games and a change in the food and beverage provision to compensate for an estimated $2 million dollar loss in its first year.

Yet, the casino just recorded its best month on record, pulling in more than $5 million in profits in July.

Arts & Culture

NPR

A Read Down Memory Lane: Lessons From Your Former Self

Writings from childhood — cards, stories and other notes — can hide for decades, like time capsules tucked away in boxes, old bedrooms, attics and journals. Writer Jim Sollisch talks about how old thank you notes from his youth foreshadowed his adult life.

Food

NPR

Inside A Tart Cherry Revival: 'Somebody Needs To Do This!'

The revival is partly based on the humble sour fruit's growing reputation as a superfood. And in Michigan, a scientist is on a quest to introduce a whole new world of hardier, tastier tart cherries by breeding American trees with ancestral varieties from Eastern Europe.

Politics

NPR

Srinivasan's Confirmation First For D.C. Circuit In 7 Years

The partisan war over judicial nominees has accelerated in recent years. It took nearly a year to win Senate confirmation for Sri Srinivasan to the important federal appeals court for the District of Columbia, though he had no formal opposition.

Technology

NPR

3-D Printer Makes Life-Saving Splint For Baby Boy's Airway

A 3-D printer is being credited with helping to save an Ohio baby's life, after doctors "printed" a tube to support a weak airway that caused him to stop breathing. The innovative procedure has allowed Kaiba Gionfriddo, of Youngstown, Ohio, to stay off a ventilator for more than a year.

Leave a Comment

Help keep the conversation civil. Please refer to our Terms of Use and Code of Conduct before posting your comments.