On Nov. 6, 2012, the state of Maryland rolled the dice on the expansion of full-fledged gambling and, depending on your point of view, hit the jackpot or went bust.

The Gaming Expansion Question, or simply “Question 7,” allowed voters to determine whether or not to essentially turn Maryland into a sort of East Coast Las Vegas, along the lines of  Atlantic City, New Jersey. It passed, but just barely (51.9 percent for and 48.1 percent against), and not without heated controversy.

Now that Question 7 has been answered by the voters, existing casinos in Maryland, like Maryland Live! in Hanover, can remain open 24 hours a day and, by early 2014, expand their slots-only gambling options to include a variety of traditional casino games, such as blackjack, craps, roulette, and other dice and card games.

According to the Washington Post, the clear winner in this game of legislative roulette is MGM Resorts. Las Vegas' largest casino operator appears to hold all of the trump cards over Penn National Gaming in the deal to develop a proposed resort and casino at National Harbor. Carrying an estimated $800 million price tag, this new casino has the potential to surpass all other East Coast casinos in terms of profits, the Post reported, and will likely siphon a considerable amount of revenue off of Penn National's Charles Town casino in West Virginia.

How it all turns out remains to be seen, but in any event some big changes are taking place.