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ANNAPOLIS — Slots opponents scored a minor legal victory this week with the addition of a single word to ballot language and are shooting for a bigger win next week before the state's highest court.

The ruling by a three-judge panel of the Anne Arundel County Circuit Court on Wednesday to insert the word "primary" into the text of the ballot language to indicate education will not be the only recipient of gambling revenues came during a week that saw sharpened rhetoric over the referendum and new revenue estimates that illuminate Maryland's poor fiscal health.

"I think the whole issue of the lawsuit is just a diversion," said Frederick W. Puddester, chair of the pro-slots group For Maryland For Our Future. "The opponents do not want to talk about the alternatives to the referendum failing … They're hoping it diverts the public's attention from the alternatives and that is if this thing doesn't pass, we're in for a massive tax increase or major cuts to programs that help people in need in this state."

But slots foes said the judges' ruling validated their claim that the ballot language drafted by Secretary of State John P. McDonough was deceptive.

"We went from a full misleading of the public to a partial misleading of the public," said Del. Michael D. Smigiel Sr. (R-Dist. 36) of Elkton.

Despite the order to amend the ballot language, the plaintiffs on Thursday appealed the ruling in an attempt to add even more details to the ballot about who would receive slots revenues. The Court of Appeals will hear arguments Monday in Annapolis.

"Voters are still confronted with a bait-and-switch scheme in which they are asked to help schoolchildren, but will receive a slots package that simply won't perform as advertised," said Irwin R. Kramer, an Owings Mills attorney who represented Smigiel and two anti-slots groups in the lawsuit.

Assistant Attorney General Austin C. Schlick will argue that further details cannot be placed on the ballot because it was not part of the constitutional amendment authorized by the General Assembly last November, but a separate bill that spells out how slots will be governed, which is not subject to voter approval.

The insertion of one word on the ballot is a "permissible approach," Schlick said Wednesday.

That single change probably won't have much impact on the referendum outcome, said Richard E. Vatz, a professor of rhetoric and communication at Towson University

"On a sheer basis of political persuasion, I'd be frankly surprised if this does anything but tighten the vote a little bit," he said.

Still, proponents haven't stopped trying to garner support for slots.

Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown has allegedly made calls to Montgomery County Democrats in an effort to get the county's central committee to back the referendum.

Spokesman Michael Raia said Brown (D) made no more than a couple of calls to try to understand how the decision would be made. "It was not a lobbying call," he said.

Raia also shot down rumors that Brown is expected to address precinct officials at a Sept. 24 meeting where positions on ballot questions are to be considered. "There are no plans for that that we are aware of, for him to attend or address them."

Gov. Martin O'Malley also has purportedly gotten involved in lobbying the central committee before they vote on the issue. An O'Malley spokesman said the governor needs the support of elected officials and voters in Montgomery.

"The governor is doing everything he can," said Shaun Adamec. "It would not surprise me at all if he has made those phone calls."

On the opposite side of the issue, Comptroller Peter V.R. Franchot turned up the dial in his quest to defeat the referendum. He told the Committee for Montgomery on Monday that slots are a "fiscal fairy tale" that will not right the state's fiscal ship. Instead, he called for the O'Malley administration to establish a blue-ribbon panel to examine where the state can trim expenses.

Later in the day, he joined Treasurer Nancy K. Kopp (D) in opposing a recommendation to increase the state's borrowing capacity by nearly 20 percent, far greater than the 3 percent increase that had been anticipated.

"We … have a responsibility to put the brakes on and be responsive to what the economic events of the day are," Franchot said of the decision that came a day before state officials reported revenue estimates have fallen $432 million short of projections for fiscal 2009.

The economic downturn gives further ammunition to voting for slots, Puddester said. "I think it underscores the need for additional revenue."

Staff writers Margie Hyslop and C. Benjamin Ford contributed to this report.