Connecticut’s two casinos had a far-from fruitful August with Hurricane Irene making the two venues sweat. The Mohegan Sun saw slot revenue decline by 15.4% compared with last year as it dropped from $856.2million to $724.2m. The casino’s win was also down 10.6% as the inclement weather meant they lost a weekend and part of the early week in late August.
Foxwoods fared much the same with slots revenue down 12.4% and the casino’s win down 11.8%. The two casinos have seen a year in which revenue declines meant that Mohegan Sun has seen only one positive month with Foxwoods’ tallying two. Any casino that is built in Massachusetts will hit revenues even further and that’s before you start to think of the implications any regulation of the online gaming industry may have. Just thank your lucky stars you aren’t in Atlantic City.
Over the state-line in Mass, it might be as long as five years before they get the casino business that is craved by job hunters – they must be bloody thankful they attached online poker to the bill! After a bill was passed, which also included Internet gambling, it has been revealed that a 2008 report fan-fared by state leaders puts long estimates of up to five years on the arrival of casinos.
This is obviously the worst-case scenario. As has been seen in the past constructing a slots parlor or casino can get off the ground as soon as approval is granted. It may be within months that this happens. Although with the presence of online poker on the bill, they need not worry. An Internet poker bill may be some way off but jobs can be created in this area a lot quicker than the time it takes to construct a casino business location.
