MGM Springfield’s poker room is the green area on the left.
MGM Springfield has raised the bar for fine dining in downtown. The beauty of the historic Union Building. MGM Springfield has raised the bar for fine dining in downtown. The beauty of the historic Union Building atmosphere is complemented by a sophisticated food and drink. Qualified players are eligible for exclusive VIP offers and personal casino host services at casinos near Springfield, Massachusetts and other casinos and cruises around the world. If you would like to be notified as soon as new comp offers become available at casinos near Springfield, Massachusetts, such as free slot play, buffet coupons,.
MGM Resorts International increased the size of the MGM Springfield poker room to 23 tables on Thursday. The unopened Springfield, Massachusetts casino’s previous poker table total had been 20. A Massachusetts gaming commissioner suggested the decision was motivated by a desire to offer more “interactive” forms of gambling.
When it opens, the MGM Springfield is expected to include 125,000 square feet of gaming space, a 250-room hotel, a 6-screen movie theater, and a retail shopping area. The $960 million MGM Springfield plans to open in October 2018.
At the moment, Masschusetts has no legal poker tables in the state. Over the next two years, the total will rise by over 120 tables, because an even bigger card room plans an opening in the Boston metropolitan area in the year after MGM Springfield opens for business.
Wynn Boston Harbor: 90-Table Poker Room
In June 2019, the $2.4 billion Wynn Boston Harbor will hold its grand opening. Wynn Resorts plans 90 poker tables for its Boston Harbor project, which is located in Everett, a suburb of Boston.
The Wynn Boston Harbor is going to be the premier site for card players in Massachusetts eventually, but MGM Springfield should become a destination for card players in the western half of New England.
MGM Resorts’ East Coast Poker Rooms
MGM Resorts is already a force in the East Coast poker market. MGM-owned Borgata’s 26-table poker room is the biggest and best card room in Atlantic City. In Baltimore, the MGM National Harbor has a 39-table poker room when has boosted the state’s poker market, according to Card Player.
The Massachusetts Gaming Commission posted on Twitter that MGM’s decision for Springfield was a decision to promote more “interactive/communal” forms of gambling. In a meeting with the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, MGM Resorts executives released the location of the MGM Springfield’s poker room. The area is set off from the main gaming space, between the main retail area and the food market.
Embed without Media:
.@MGMSpringfield President Mike Mathis presents the plan view for Level 1. #macasinos#oneyeartoopeningpic.twitter.com/gApf7vPemM
— MA Gaming Commission (@MassGamingComm) September 28, 2017
MGM Springfield: 23 Poker Tables
The MGM Springfield is expected to revitalize the downtown area of Springfield, the largest city in Western Massachusetts. Besides agreeing to build a $900 million-plus integrated casino resort in the area, MGM Resorts agreed to financially support civic festivals and become a patron of the arts in the local community.
The announcement that MGM Resorts would build a massive new gaming complex near the border between Connecticut and Massachusetts produced consternation in the Connecticut. Foxwoods Casino and Mohegan Sun long held a land-based gaming monopoly in New England, so the two tribal casinos in Connecticut were among some of the largest gaming complexes in the world. With less traffic from Boston and New York City in the coming years, both the Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods casinos expect harder financial times.
East Windsor Casino in Connecticut
To mitigate some of the financial impact, the two Native American tribes behind Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun — the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes, respectively — backed a joint venture in the Hartford suburb of East Windsor.
Hartford is only 25 miles from Springfield, much closer than Hartford is to Mohegan Sun or Foxwoods, which are in the southeastern portion of the state. Thus, the satellite casino is designed as a firewall against capital flight out of the state. The Connecticut State Legislature backed that proposal in July 2017, thus setting the stage for a satellite casino in East Windsor which would keep Hartford-area gamblers away from MGM Springfield.
MGM Bridgeport Casino?
Meanwhile, MGM Resorts sued Connecticut to keep the East Windsor casino from ever happening. In 2015, MGM Resorts claimed the government of Connecticut violated its constitution by refusing to have a casino licensing process. MGM claimed its plan for a Bridgeport casino was not properly vetted, and thus the East Windsor casino was illegally approved.
In the summer of 2017, a US district judge ruled against MGM Resorts. That did not stop MGM Resort’s CEO, Jim Murren, from recently holding a press conference in which he unveiled a plan for an MGM Bridgeport Casino. Connecticut’s leader charge Murren of using the Bridgeport issue as a tool to delay the opening of the East Windsor casino, until the MGM Springfield is opened and collecting customers.
Whatever the case, MGM Springfield is going to offer more poker to New England’s gamblers than was expected previously. The decision comes at a time when poker rooms in Las Vegas are closing. MGM Resorts, itself a top Las Vegas Strip operator, said its decision was made in order to give visitors more skill-based gambling opportunities. Millennial gamblers do not like slot machines, so MGM Springfield wants to offer types of gaming which are more interactive and strategic.
Recent Posts
Popular Articles
At this point in time there’s no live Texas holdem poker available in
Massachusetts in any casinos. Although there are some promising signs that this
will change soon. So, if you live in Boston or somewhere else in the state
there’s some things to look forward to.
In the meantime, you still do have some decent options in respect to finding
live poker action without too much inconvenience. Gaming in Massachusetts is
mostly acceptable these days with horse and dog racing betting, lottery, bingo,
and raffles all permitted.
Recently the state has introduced legislation to allow casinos to be built
under a series of strict regulations and permits. This is where the silver
lining exists for Massachusetts residents.
Currently there are two casinos being constructed in Springfield and Boston
Harbor. These are being built and run by MGM and Wynn respectively.
Springfield Ma Casino Opening
This means by 2018 you’ll have access to at least two poker rooms and more
than 30 tables to get your live poker fill anytime, any day. This is a great
thing for the residents of Massachusetts who in the past have had to commute to
Connecticut, New Hampshire, and New Jersey to play live poker.
While this isn’t such a bad thing and isn’t too much of an inconvenience
given the relative proximity to most of the larger cities in the state, it’s
always better to have options in your own backyard.
Neighbouring States
Until these new casinos are built and operating, you’ll need to play your
live poker at the above-mentioned establishments. If you live in Boston or in
the southern part of the state, the best place to play is Foxwoods in
Connecticut. In the north of the state the best is The Poker Room at Hampton
Falls or Seabrook Poker Room, both in New Hampshire.
In the western part of the state you’ll want to go south into Connecticut as
well. From mid-February, you’ll also have the option of the casino and poker
room at the Rivers Casino and Resort at Mohawk Harbor in Schenectady, New York.
Otherwise if you want to take a short flight you can get down to Atlantic City
in New Jersey quite quickly where there are still some decent options available
in respect to Texas holdem poker.
Other Gaming
One casino has already opened in the state and that’s Plainridge Park Casino.
This features a harness racing track, which has been around for a while, and a
slot parlour which opened in 2015. It was since this point that the venue
officially became a casino. The casino is in Plainville and is owned and
operated by Penn National Gaming, who have deep gaming interests in Pennsylvania
and Las Vegas.
If you’d like to participate in some form of gaming until the new casinos are
open and operating your options will be a bit limited. You can play lottery,
raffles, and bingo, and place wagers on horse and dog racing. You can also hit
up the Plainridge Park Casino for some slot action, as we outlined above.
This should provide you with some level of entertainment to keep you covered
between the poker tables, although if you truly love poker and are a purist you
generally wouldn’t touch these kinds of things with a ten-foot pole, and that’s
purely because it’s all luck based and the odds are stacked against you.
This isn’t so true for horse and dog racing, where a little bit of effort and
study can result in some modest wins on a long enough time line, but you need to
put in a lot of hours and have the patience of a saint to achieve this though.
In any case, that’s not to say it isn’t a lot of fun though, and who doesn’t
like to have a flutter every now and then on luck based games and the horses and
dogs?
Online Poker
Online poker is currently not regulated in the state of Massachusetts and as
such you won’t be able to find and play on any local card rooms online. While
online play is still possible through off shore poker sites, this is a bit of a
grey area and carries associated risks.
The big and respected sites such as Pokerstars, Full Tilt, and Party Poker
don’t welcome any players from Massachusetts, and most of the United States for
that matter, so if you are playing online you’ll have to go through one of the
smaller and less reputable card rooms. The future does look bright for online
play though and once New York regulates online play it’s anticipated that
Massachusetts will quickly follow suit.
If you wish to play online casino games from Massachusetts, you can also do
so. You’ll be able to find several respected and trusted online casinos that
offer slots and tables games, including craps, blackjack, roulette and baccarat.
Conclusion
While things aren’t great in the Bay state at the moment in relation to Texas
holdem poker, there’s significant change coming in this area in the next few
years. While this will hurt some of the major casinos in the surrounding states
it’s undoubtedly a good thing for players and will attract a new cohort of
players to the game.
This will continue to put pressure on lawmakers and representatives to
continue to regulate and allow more live poker and games online. The game was in
an amazing place prior to black Friday, and we can only hope we’ll return to
these glory days once more states open live rooms and then online play.
This will generate more interest in the game as a sport as well, which will
add an extra layer of excitement to the game and attract different demographic
groups towards this great game. Things are looking great for Boston and
Massachusetts overall, so stay tuned for more updates and only good news for
poker in this state.