Legal Slots

A financial report released this week by the Maine Gambling Control Board shows that the 475 slot machines that went on line last month at Hollywood Slots at Bangor have generated a total of $775,000 for the 10 beneficiaries set out in the law. Robert Welch, control board executive director, said the report spans the first five weeks of operations at Hollywood Slots at Bangor, which opened on November 4. During a statewide campaign in 2003, slots were touted as a possible salvation for the state's struggling harness racing industry. Backers, however, also promised financial benefits to a range of other social, cultural and educational needs.

The report suggests those promises will be fulfilled, though to what extent remains unclear at this early juncture. Under the state slots law, Hollywood Slots must pay one percent of the total wager at its Main Street facility to the state. Of the money that is left, 89 percent goes back to players in the form of winnings. Of what's left after that, 39 percent goes to the state for distribution among 10 beneficiaries. While the state's harness racing industry will get a large chunk of the proceeds - 10 percent to supplement purses and another 3 percent for the Sire Stakes - nonracing programs will get a share as well.