Maryland officials are on the hunt again for a developer to build a key Baltimore slot complex in a major setback to the state’s fledging gambling industry.

Maryland’s sluggish rollout of slot machine gambling is set to get a major jolt today, when a local developer will formally unveil plans for a major casino in Baltimore.

Maryland authorities are hoping that their award of a VLT gaming licence to the Ocean Downs racetrack will help kick start the state’s other casino projects that remain mired in a tortuous regulatory approval process.

Maryland’s bid to become a major US gambling power is off to a painfully slow start, beset by legal squabbles, sky-high taxes and fees, and political tampering, industry observers say.

Maryland officials were able to attract six bids for five possible licences to operate slot machine gaming at venues throughout the state before a deadline expired yesterday, but with combined bids not even reaching the maximum machine capacity permitted by law, Maryland’s gambling expansion looks set to follow Kansas by falling well short of expectations.

Baltimore developer The Cordish Co. will pull out of a plan to build a casino at Kansas Speedway in suburban Kansas City, to be replaced by rival Penn National Gaming as the gaming-management partner.

Maryland’s fledgling gambling industry is facing its first major test, with Baltimore officials pushing for tens of millions of dollars in rent from potential slot machines operators. The demand for massive rent payments by Maryland’s largest city threatens to put a dampener on interest by gambling operators in the state, industry observers say.

With the Las Vegas Sands project now officially out of the running, Unified Government officials in Kansas will decide this week which of four remaining Kansas City casino proposals to recommend for State consideration. It appears likely they will endorse more than one, and force up the required levels of charitable contributions along the way.

Maryland may become the latest US state to embrace expanded gambling, with its labour and business leaders lining up in favor of a proposal to legalize thousands of slot machines. The support comes as Maryland finds itself surrounded by a ring of racinos and casinos in neighboring Mid-Atlantic states.

Maryland’s already shaky push into slot machine gambling now faces a new challenge – plans by the state’s largest city to tax and effectively recognise illegal wagering operations.