While many parts of the nation saw a traditional "white" Christmas thanks to a very wintry December, in Maryland it was all green.
At least for the state's casino properties it was, with the last month of the year rounding out a 2013 that saw a healthy amount of revenue.
According to the Washington Post, the four brick and mortar casinos in the state of Maryland took in about $750 million in total gambling revenue in 2013, with $65 million of that coming in December.
December slower than other months The Baltimore Sun reported that although December - a month in which many folks are busy preparing for and celebrating the year end holidays - was the weakest month revenue-wise for the state's gambling industry, numbers still surpass those booked for December of 2012.
The paper said that money generated by the four land-based casinos in Maryland in the final month of 2013 "contributed nearly $25 million for the state's education trust fund, nearly $3 million for the state's horse racing purses, about $720,000 for the state's racetrack facility renewal fund, about $866,000 for the gaming control agency, and about $633,000 for small, minority and women owned businesses."
Maryland Live property the state's biggest winner
The most profitable casino in the state, both for last month as well as for the entire year of 2013, was Maryland Live.
That property, which first opened just a little over a year and a half ago and went on to introduce table gaming in 2013, made up the lion's share of December's casino take.
Of the $65 million generated from land-based casino gambling in Maryland in December, Maryland Live was responsible for $52 million, or a full 80 percent.
"We’re very pleased with our performance. The addition of live action tables and poker has been very exciting for the property from an experience and revenue standpoint, while slots showed steady growth through the year, even with the addition of tables," remarked the president and general manager of Maryland Live, Rob Norton, via a statement.
Could casino popularity lead to online gambling?
Maryland, with its close proximity to both the tourism center that is the nation's capitol as well as easy accessibility from a number of eastern metropolitan centers, is well-positioned to attract gamblers to its new casino properties.
The state, however, does not often come up when talk of which states may be in line to regulate real money online poker and other forms of Internet-based wagering arises.
Though its near neighbor Delaware became the second state in the U.S. to launch a legalized online gambling market when it did so back in October, for the time being it seems unlikely that Maryland will move to do the same despite the apparent popularity of its brick and mortar casino properties.
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