In the US, Maryland's sixth casino has been awarded to MGM Resorts International.
The company plans a luxury casino-hotel at National Harbour in Prince George's County, on the doorstep of Washington, DC. The casino is not permitted to open any sooner than mid-2016.
The casino-hotel, with a sleek and modern design evocative of the monuments across the Potomac River, will have the advantages of setting. At National Harbour, it will be part of an already popular waterfront complex of retail, dining, conference space, hotels and condos.
Among MGM's advantages will be a local customer base that may prove impervious to economic pressures. The lucrative northern Virginia market, buoyed by federal government employment, offers the promise of a steady stream of customers with discretionary spending power.
Some casino executives think that when the MGM at National Harbour is up and running during the second half of the decade, it will be among the most successful casinos outside of Las Vegas.
