Maryland casinos are doing better than before the pandemic

After setting a record for gaming revenue in May, the betting slowed a bit for Maryland’s six casinos in June, although gaming revenue is still well above where it was this time two years ago.

Maryland’s six casinos generated a total of $161.5 million in gaming revenue in June, 13% more than June 2019. All six casinos were closed for most of June 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Maryland will collect $67.6 million of that, a 12.6% increase over June 2019, with the majority of that going to the state’s Education Trust Fund.

MGM National Harbor remains the top Maryland casino for gaming revenue, generating $63.7 million in June, a 12% increase from June 2019. Live! Casino & Hotel at Arundel Mills saw gaming revenue jump 19.4% compared to June 2019, to $58.5 million. Baltimore’s Horseshoe Casino is the only one that generated less gaming revenue in June than it did two years ago, at $17 million, down 8.9%

Maryland’s three smaller casinos — Ocean Downs, Hollywood Casino and Rocky Gap — all had double-digit gains in June gaming revenue compared to two years ago.

All six casinos closed completely on March 16, 2020, because of the pandemic. They began reopening with capacity limitations on June 19, 2020. As of June 17 this year, all capacity restrictions had been lifted at all six casinos. Some slot machine and table game seats are still blocked to comply with social distancing guidelines.