Behind the Scenes in the Surveillance Room at Horseshoe Casino Baltimore

In this surveillance room deep inside the new Horseshoe Casino Baltimore—the second gaming house within easy reach of Washington to open in the past two years—they don’t just nab gamblers who aren’t playing nice. At the Pai Gow poker table in the corner of the room, members of the Horseshoe staff immediately deconstruct a cheat after it’s spotted on a monitor.

More than 1,300 cameras are focused on the casino’s 122 gaming tables, 2,500 slots, poker room (with another 25 tables), bars and restaurants, parking lots, rooftop, and “counting room.” While preserving the privacy and safety of patrons, the system helps in training casino employees, especially dealers, who’ll soon be taught how to recognize the scam being reproduced here.

With MGM breaking ground on its own nearly billion-dollar casino hotel at National Harbor, Maryland may soon rival DC for the most closely watched turf in the area.

This article appears in the November 2014 issue of Washingtonian.

Carol Ross Joynt