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Maryland voters will decide this November whether to loosen the state’s rules for drawing congressional districts, after the Maryland Supreme Court ruled Sept. 3 that the measure, known as Question 3, could stay on the ballot with revised wording. The ruling reversed two lower courts that had blocked the amendment over concerns its language was misleading.
No similar resolution awaits Maryland’s other unfinished gambling debate. For a fourth consecutive year, lawmakers failed to advance a measure that would let voters decide whether to legalize real-money online casino gaming. Unlike redistricting, expanding gambling requires approval from the General Assembly before it can reach a statewide ballot — and that approval hasn’t come.
The latest attempt collapsed this spring when two connected bills stalled in committee, leaving Maryland residents limited to retail casinos and regulated sports betting while an unregulated online casino market keeps operating beyond the state’s reach.
A gambling expansion that stopped short
Maryland’s gambling industry has grown in stages since voters approved slot machines in a 2008 referendum, then added table games and a sixth casino license in 2012. Sports betting came next: retail sportsbooks opened in December 2021, and online sports betting followed in 2022.
Online casino gaming has not received the same green light. Maryland doesn’t allow licensed operators to offer internet-based slots, blackjack or live-dealer games. Only a handful of states — including Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and West Virginia — have full, live online casino markets. Maine has approved iGaming but hasn’t launched it yet.
Online sports betting, by comparison, is legal in roughly 30 states, underscoring how far online casino gaming lags behind.
Four sessions, no breakthrough
State Sen. Ron Watson, D-Prince George’s County, has led the push since 2023. His latest attempt paired two bills: Senate Bill 761 would have asked voters to approve a constitutional amendment this November, while Senate Bill 885 would have built the regulatory framework to oversee a legal market.
Watson withdrew SB 761 in March after the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee canceled a scheduled hearing. SB 885 later missed the legislature’s crossover deadline. A companion House bill from Del. Vanessa Atterbeary never reached a floor vote, either.
The session ended in April without an agreement, extending a losing streak that also includes failed attempts in 2024 and 2025, according to the Southern Maryland Chronicle.
Billions flow offshore, untaxed and unregulated
Backers argue legalization would open a significant new revenue stream. Maryland’s sports betting industry has generated more than $180 million for the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future education fund since 2021, and advocates cite estimates that a legal online casino market could bring in roughly $225 million in its first full year.
Legislative testimony this year put the state’s existing unregulated online casino activity at $6 billion to $9 billion a year, meaning substantial revenue is already flowing to offshore sites outside any state tax or licensing structure.
Maryland casino operators remain split
Maryland’s existing casino operators disagree on what legalization would mean for their bottom lines. The Cordish Companies, which runs Live! Casino in Anne Arundel County, and PENN Entertainment, operator of Hollywood Casino Perryville, oppose expansion, arguing it would cannibalize retail revenue without generating enough new tax income to offset the loss.
Churchill Downs, which owns Ocean Downs Casino, has pointed to Pennsylvania’s Presque Isle property, which saw a 15% revenue decline and a 40% drop in jobs after that state legalized online gaming.
Support isn’t universal on the other side, either. MGM National Harbor’s parent company backs legalization, and Caesars has said it would support the change if lawmakers settle on a lower tax rate than some proposals call for.
Marylanders already gamble online, unprotected
Advocates say the real question isn’t whether Marylanders gamble online — many already do, through offshore sites that fall outside state consumer-protection, responsible-gambling and tax rules.
Jeff Ifrah, an attorney representing online casino operators through the iDEA trade association, has argued that legalization would let established companies offer safer, regulated alternatives under state oversight.
Whatson vows to try again in 2027
The General Assembly returns in January, though there’s no guarantee the proposal regains momentum. Watson has said he intends to keep pushing it, but the outcome will likely hinge on whether lawmakers can resolve disagreements over tax rates and the impact on existing casinos that have sunk the bill four years running.
For now, Maryland voters will settle the future of the state’s congressional map this fall, the Maryland Supreme Court’s ruling ensured. The state’s gambling future remains a question for the State House, not the ballot box.
