(The movie is now out on Blu-ray and DVD, as one of the posters inside helpfully tells us.) Except for a bar, a cafe and an affordable buffet restaurant (food prices range from $9 to $18), the floor is blanketed with slot machines. But from the outset, Hollywood's decor suggests a night at home watching 'Meet the Parents 3' would be just as exciting. A casino, whatever criticisms one may lodge, should at least offer some grandeur for those who've schlepped there for a night of entertainment. The posters of such 'classics' as 'Little Fockers' and Liam Neeson's 'Unknown' hang from the unembellished, warehouselike ceilings. But while the wallpaper features the faces of Cary Grant, Montgomery Clift and Liz Taylor, the casino's idea of modern Hollywood is less imaginative. Perhaps in a nod to its name, the interior is decorated with images from the movies. The building is a square tan box with little flair outside other than a valet and a marquee with 'Hollywood' in red. It is almost as big as a 20-screen movie theater - and looks it from the outside. Hollywood Casino Hollywood opened nine months ago, the first of the two slots casinos, and is by far the largest, with 1,500 machines to Ocean Downs' 750. Right now, it's slots and little else at both Maryland spots. But after I spent nights at both, it was clear they still need more time to compete with the glitzier casinos in Delaware. Earlier this month, harness racing resumed at Ocean Downs after a two-year hiatus. The Hollywood Casino in Perryville and the Casino at Ocean Downs (a few miles outside Ocean City) both offer indoor bars and computerized gaming galore, including blackjack arcades and hundreds of slot machines. Open for more than five months each, Maryland's only gambling options have already established themselves as destinations - they've raked in a combined $77 million in revenue since September, according to the Maryland Lottery. Sputtering lights and kaleidoscopic effects bombard visitors at every step. Walking around this casino, Maryland's largest, and the Casino at Ocean Downs, the state's second, can be a dizzying, trippy experience. The cavernous complex in the middle of rural Cecil County felt like the inside of a pinball machine.

Crowds flitted from shiny penny slots to $1 machines, hoping to hit it big, or simply spend a night away from the couch. On a recent Friday night, Hollywood Casino in Perryville whooped, shrieked and fluttered with the shrill din of thousands of slot machines at full blast.

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