Baltimore – Wikipedia

Has anyone been to either MGM National Harbor or Live recently? The last time I was there was in May and the craps tables were all $50.00 min midweek. I'm thinking about going back up (I'm in Richmond, VA) but only if they are back to $25.00. The spreadsheet here is suitable for general knowledge, but it doesn't always reflect the most recent changes, especially at an outlying casino.
Thank you in advance for any help from someone with local knowledge!

Baltimore Sun
Hammerjacks comeback planned; new trademark owner wants spot by Baltimore casino
By Erik Maza
6:30 AM EST, November 11, 2011
Hammerjacks, Baltimore's shrine to big hair, loud dresses and heavy metal, is plotting a comeback.
An Anne Arundel County man has bought the trademark to sell Hammerjacks-related merchandise. And, he said he's negotiating with developers for a new branded club near the planned Baltimore slots casino off Russell Street.
His plans are the second time a revival of the iconic megaclub has been attempted since it closed in 1997; a 2000 reincarnation failed to win over the original's legions of fans, which included, over the years, the likes of Bret Michaels and the classy lady pictured above.
Kevin Butler, a 47-year-old mortgage executive from Anne Arundel County, was a regular at the Howard Street location of Hammerjacks; the club originally opened in 1977 on South Charles Street, but it was the club under an Interstate 395 overpass that became iconic.
Over two decades, it hosted some of the most popular acts in live entertainment: Donna Summer, the Ramones, Guns 'n' Roses, Ozzy.
In 1997, the Maryland Stadium Authority paid the owners, the Principio family, $3.1 million for three tracts of land to make way for parking near Camden Yards.
The demolitions of Hammerjacks, and sister clubs Louie Louies and Gridlock, drew scores of people looking to walk away with bricks and other mementos from a club that some called legendary.
"It was the Studio 54 of rock 'n' roll," Butler said.
A new Hammerjacks opened on Guilford Avenue in 2000. But while it booked major acts - Baltimore club DJs Rod Lee and K-Swift; Tupac, Queen Latifah - it never regained the popularity of the Howard Street club and closed in 2006. Bourbon Street, which recently closed, took over in 2008.
Butler started looking for Hammerjacks merchandise several years ago and couldn't find anything besides vintage. It seems that when the club closed in 2006, the owners of the trademark neglected to renew it.
Much like the new owner of the National Premium trademark, Butler believed the Hammerjacks brand still had equity in the market and he secured it in 2009 for $1,000, he said. His attorney, Lawrence E. Laubscher, is listed on the trademark.
"For people between the ages of 35 and 55, it's a place everybody has a story about," Butler said.
The trademark gives him ownership of the Hammerjacks logo - which consists of the name underneath a hammer and two lightning bolts above the letter 'j' - and its use on clothing and the promotion of concerts or nightclubs.
For now, he's used it to sell clothes, coolies and other knick knacks on his website, Hammerjacksonline.com. He said he's sold thousands of items.
His more ambitious goal is to open a brand new club and concert hall, either for him or someone else to run, near the planned slots parlor in Baltimore. He claims he's negotiating with developers and investors - he declined to say who - but has not secured a partner so far.
Even though the first Hammerjacks revival failed, Butler said there's still a demand for the club that goes beyond kitsch or nostalgia.
When he hosted a Hammerjacks-themed party three weeks ago at the club's former location on Charles Street - which is now Nobles Bar & Grill - he said at least a hundred people turned up.
The party was held on Halloween night.
Copyright © 2011, The Baltimore Sun

This is just 7 day's worth of controversy in Baltimore. While everyone was following Petraeus and Twinkies, some important shit was going on and none of it got the respect it deserved.
Just a few hours ago members of the SWAT team were called in to remove homeless advocates from a rally to support the homeless as well as provide them with food, warm clothes and blankets.
Which came just 2 days after it was revealed that the city mismanaged a $9.5 million stimulus grant meant to go towards helping the homeless get off the street, including hundreds of thousands of entirely lost funds, with some pathetic excuses about records being lost or stolen.
4 multiple shootings in 4 days, including a double shooting in which two brothers were killed execution style in their mother's living room.
$1.5 million in excessive tax breaks because of chronic errors in how a tax break was computed.
$7000 in parking tickets written during an 18 hour driving ban.
We found out that the 2012 Grand Prix under-performed, selling 30,000 fewer tickets and contributing $5 million less to the local economy.
Speed cameras have been issuing drivers fraudulent tickets for months, and city official knew about it. This comes just a few weeks after Mayor Rawlings-Blake hailed the cameras for providing $4 million in unanticipated revenue, and shrugging off criticism of the cameras saying "It's a minor inconvenience for people who routinely break the law".
157 felony crimes inside city schools went unreported.
We found out that the ethics committee that oversees the city's Ethics Director hasn't met in at least 6 years, possibly longer.
3 city police officers suspended in a week, including a sexual misconduct allegation involving an 18 year old woman.
2 more water mains broke on monday, including a 30" main at Guilford and Madison. This makes it 15 in the last 2 years. The same week repairs on the break at Monument St doubles to $7 million.
The head of the Mayor's Office of Information Technology discovered 51 unused phone lines in his Department alone, which if fixed could save up to $2 million. He says there could be hundreds of unused phone lines out there at a cost of $45 a month.
The city is moving forward as fast as possible on the Horseshoe casino, without sufficient input from the community, without even setting up a local development council or completing traffic studies.
The City Parking Authority missed deadlines again to award contracts for city-owned parking garages, forcing the BoE to extend the old contracts without a competitive bid process.
Anne Arundel officials came out against a trash burning plant in south Baltimore that apparently no City officials have any problems with.

Has anyone been there? I stopped by yesterday as it's only been open for a week. I'm curious about what other people's opinion are. IMO, it is very uninspiring and I left with the feeling that I'd never come back. The FanDuel book at the Live! casino, which is a 15 minutes drive from the Horseshoe, is simply captivating.
Online/mobile won't be live in Maryland until late next year. There are self-serve kiosks though within the casinos.
[Formula 1 Stuff]
The tangible problem I had with Caesars was that I couldn't place a bet on the Formula 1 Drivers Championship. They had the Constructors Championship (which was -1400, or similar) for Mercedes and the Abu Dhabi race with the normal F1 market bets. I went to the book with the intention of wagering on Verstappen to win the Drivers. That market wasn't available which was very strange and the supervisor I no answer as to why. I should have checked the kiosks. I wound up betting on him to win the race. That had more risk as there are more ways Max could have won the championship, but only one way to win the race. I didn't know the line on championship, but I got +105 on the win. In the end it didn't matter much as I just wagered $50. Oh, and that was my first ever sports bet :)

Because the Cleveland Guardians rebranded to something that represents their hometown, I thought it’d be fun to do that with every MLB team. I did way too much research for this, and I learned a ton of new random facts that I can bore my friends with later, but I’m gonna start with the AL East.

AL East:

Baltimore Orioles: A harbor city right in the middle of the east coast. Many people aren’t aware that the famed poet Edgar Allen Poe lived and died here which I think is pretty cool. While the oriole is the state bird of Maryland and has a long history as the name of a baseball team (Babe Ruth played for the minor league team for a bit), I think that honoring the late, great poet is perfect for the city. And in keeping with the bird theme, the Baltimore Ravens is a perfect name!
Boston Red Sox: While this is a classic, it doesn’t really encapsulate the history of the city; a history where the start of the American Revolution happened. Therefore, the most fitting name would be the Boston Patriots.
New York Yankees: New York is a difficult one because there’s just so much stuff to think about when coming up with names that fit the city. BUT! One of the first organized baseball teams did start in New York, and I think it would be great to pay homage to this history by taking the name of the New York Knickerbockers (New York Knicks for short).
Toronto Blue Jays: Since Toronto is the only Canadian team at the moment, the team name needs to represent all of Canada, and since Canada is a large and diverse country, we’re just gonna take after the flag and use the maple leaf. And for you grammar nerds out there, since this is a symbol, the team name would be spelled Toronto Maple Leafs (not “leaves”).
Tampa Bay Rays: “Rays” is a solid name for a Florida-based team, both in reference to the stingray and the rays of sunshine. But, alas, the rules dictate that we must change it. Also, as I was doing research for this, I realized how out-of-place the Pittsburgh Pirates name is. Last time I checked, pirates didn’t sail that far inland, and pirates do have more of a history in Florida than in western Pennsylvania. Because of this, I wanted to rename them to the Tampa Bay Pirates, but I feel like this goes against the nature of this game to just re-use existing names, so we’re going to crack open the thesaurus and land on Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

AL Central:

Chicago White Sox: With Cleveland changing their name from the Indians to the Guardians (fair), I do think this is just another example of the erasure of the American Indian in our sports culture, so I want to honor them in a proper way. While researching Chicago, I came across the famous chief Black Hawk who was a pretty badass dude who also published the first Native American biography in the US). Also there are helicopters of the same name (same origin) and that’s always cool. After learning this, the White Sox were an easy rebrand to the Chicago Blackhawks.
Cleveland Guardians: Do I even need to come up with a new name here? They just changed it. Screw it, name them the Cavaliers or something dumb like that.
Detroit Tigers: I’ve been to Detroit and I didn’t see a single tiger. In fact, it was way too cold for any of the large jungle cats. Since Detroit was known for its car industry, I think it’s fitting to rename them to the Detroit Pistons.
Kansas City Royals: So the Royals are actually a great name with a cool origin from the livestock show, the American Royal, that’s held in KC. But I really do believe that we need to increase the recognition of the American Indians, especially in the midwestern plains. To jump off from “royal”, the leaders of the native tribes were called “chiefs” so it should be easy to rebrand the “Royals” to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Minnesota Twins: Although the Twins’ name comes from the Twin Cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis, another interesting factoid is that there is large Scandinavian history and culture there. And what better way of paying tribute to this culture than with the name of the Minnesota Vikings.

AL West:

Houston Astros: As we are all aware, Houston has a huge space program. In fact, Yordon Alvarez was the last one to send a projectile into orbit from Houston (Phillies fans don’t click), so in the same vein, let’s go with the Houston Rockets.
Los Angeles Angels: Translating to “The The Angels Angels”, I think we can all agree this name is pretty lazy. So I’m going to be equally lazy and go with the Los Angeles Kings or something because that’s what Hollywood thinks of themselves.
Oakland A’s: In preparation for the A’s moving to Vegas in the next couple years (we all know it’ll happen), a rebrand is on-point. When I think of Vegas, I think of the night life that it has to offer: The casinos, the Vegas Strip, the shows, etc. So the Las Vegas Nights was my first thought, but that’s kind of stupid. Luckily, “Knights” sounds a lot like “Nights”, so let’s go with that. Side note, did you know that Nevada is the largest producer of gold in the US? To pay homage to this, the new name is the Las Vegas Golden Knights.
Seattle Mariners: The Mariners are a solid name for the port city of Seattle, so I’m continuing the theme of seafarers but moving from the water to the air because you can’t hit homeruns in the water. The new name I’m choosing is the Seattle Seahawks.
Texas Rangers: While Walker, Texas Ranger is a great origin for a name (this is my head cannon, I will hear no arguments to the contrary), I think another equally quality name would be the Cowboys since Texas has a long history of cowboys. Might as well move them back to Dallas and call them the Dallas Cowboys.

NL East:

Atlanta Braves: A borderline problematic name even though the team has a pretty decent relationship with the Cherokees to their lovely neighbors to the north, I know some of you would love to see a name change here too. I was initially thinking of the Atlanta Flames because of Sherman's March in which he burned Atlanta to the ground, but I’ve met people from Georgia and South Carolina, and as much as I think that would be hilarious, they are a contentious people who don’t. Instead I’m going with their state bird, the Atlanta Thrashers.
Miami Marlins: I guess Florida would have a pretty solid fishing industry, so “Marlins” does make sense, but every time I’ve been to Miami, it’s been hot as balls. I’m just gonna go with the Miami Heat. Also kinda has a nice ring to it.
New York Mets: For those of you who haven’t been to New York, the Mets’ ballpark is right by Laguardia Airport and planes are super cool. But what’s even cooler than planes are jets. This one is an easy rebrand: the Mets to the New York Jets.
Philadelphia Phillies: Another historic city that was important to the American Revolution, and where the Declaration of Independence was signed back in 1776. To honor (without the “u”) our collective “fuck you” to the Bri*ish, I’m renaming them to the Philadelphia 76ers.
Washington Nationals: This one is an easy one, and it would help reduce the redundancy of having the “Nationals” in the National League. Since D.C. is the capital city of the US of A, the new name is now the Washington Capitals.

NL Central:

Chicago Cubs: The Cubs have been around for almost 150 years. I feel like they should be grown up by now. So I’m leveling them up to the Chicago Bears.
Cincinnati Reds: Even though Cincy is called the “Queen City” for some weird reason (I’m sorry, were you named after a literal queen?), the main attraction is the zoo. I know everyone is gonna make the suggestion of the Cincinnati Harambes or Gorillas, but I feel like that could get problematic. I’ve noticed that there’s not many teams named after cats, and as an avid lover of cats, the best cat is the Bengal tiger which the Cincinnati zoo probably has, so I’m renaming them to the Cincinnati Bengals.
Pittsburgh Pirates: Much like Detroit, Pittsburgh’s steel industry allowed the city to grow into what it is today. And to honor this, we should name them the Pittsburgh Steelers. Even better, they should be required to have the fastest players on their roster and should be required to steal second every chance they have.
St. Louis Cardinals: This is one of those teams whose name origin is pretty shit tbh. According to MLB.com, it literally came from the color of their uniform. Side note, there was another team in St. Louis named the Browns so obviously St. Louis has some fascination with colors. So if they like colors so much, they might as well rename their team to a color that has another meaning. In the early 1900s, St. Louis had a huge jazz scene, so I’m gonna go with the St. Louis Blues.
Milwaukee Brewers: While I’m sure Milwaukee has actual breweries that are good, the one they’re most known for should not be celebrated as the team’s moniker. Instead, I’m going with a state animal. While I like the Milwaukee Badgers as a name, this might get confused with the University of Wisconsin. Their second state animal (yes, Wisconsin has two state animals; those over-achievers), is the white-tailed deer, so a rebrand to the Milwaukee Bucks would be fitting.

NL West:

Arizona Diamondbacks: This might be a hot take, but I really think the D-Backs need to drop the “Arizona” and just go with “Phoenix”. Primarily because the name “Phoenix” is cool. Anyways, just like Miami, the first thing I think about is how stupidly hot it gets out there. The sun just beats down on you with no remorse just like an aspiring baseball team should do. I’m renaming them the Phoenix Suns.
Colorado Rockies: While the Rocky Mountains are an iconic part of Colorado, the rules dictate that each team gets a new name, so I’m going with a mountain-adjacent name of the Colorado Avalanche.
Los Angeles Dodgers: If you couldn’t tell, I’m not a big fan of LA. There are so many nice cities and towns in California, but LA is just one of them. Also the name “Dodgers” is indigenous to Brooklyn as they were named after the trolley dodgers which is a much better name for San Francisco (please don’t hate me for that). I’m renaming them to the Los Angeles Chargers because everyone charges you so much money for everything in LA.
San Diego Padres: Yet another iconic name that is steeped in history, I tried to research other San Diego icons one of which being the obvious San Diego Bay, which houses an important naval base, among other things. To honor this maritime history, I’m renaming them to the San Diego Clippers, because a “clipper” is a cool ship with a cool name.
San Francisco Giants: Another well-known historical city, San Francisco boomed from a gold rush in 1849, and to go along with Philadelphia, the Giants are now changing their name to the San Francisco 49ers.