By
Jerry Smith
Staff Writer Updated: 09/01/2021
Jerry’s greatest advantage is his extensive experience on the casino floor. His time as a casino manager taught him everything about what makes a player tick. Besides being a skilled poker player, he has deep knowledge of all live table games and gambling regulations in the US.
MGM Springfield to Reopen Poker Room
It has been announced that the MGM Springfield casino will be reopening its poker room this year, after it being shut for months due to the global pandemic. This means that those in Massachusetts will have at least one of their two poker rooms available to them before the year comes to an end. According to a representative, they hope to reopen the poker room sometime between October and the end of the year.
However, visitors will have to get used to a scaled back experience. Before the pandemic, the poker room had 28 tables. When it reopens, this number will be reduced down to just 10-12. Whether this will be enough to satisfy the demand for poker in the state remains to be seen. If it’s not, many players might choose to head across state lines to play their favorite game live.
Online poker is not currently offered in Massachusetts, meaning that those looking to play in the state haven’t had any other way of enjoying the game since the casinos shut. However, it is likely that the state will legalize online poker, as well as other forms of online gambling, at some point soon.
The other casino in the state is Encore Boston Harbor. Unlike the MGM Springfield, they have not yet released their plans for the reopening of their poker room. However, representatives have said that they’ll need to prioritize space in the casino if poker was to return – something that would probably lead to the shutting of some other gambling facilities.
Speaking about the return of poker, an Encore Boston Harbor spokesperson said:
If and when poker should return to Encore, it will likely be at a reduced capacity.
Encore have also said that they’re currently finding it tough to recruit dealers, meaning it would be impossible to return their poker room to the way it was before the pandemic. During lockdown, they were forced to release many of their employees, who have now gone on to find other jobs and are therefore unavailable to return to work at the casino.
Regulators in Massachusetts revealed last month that they are receiving many more complaints than normal. In fact, the number of complaints being received increased by around 1,000%, with many of the complaints focusing on the lack of live poker in the state.
Due to the huge increase in complaints, the two casinos were confronted by the regulators, who were keen to know when the venues would reintroduce poker. This undoubtedly had an influence on MGM Springfield making their decision.
Massachusetts went through some of the toughest restrictions in the country in order to combat the pandemic, with many restrictions on casinos in place for over a year. However, casinos are now bouncing back, recently declaring record revenue of $95.74 million for July. The casino with the highest revenue was Encore Boston Harbor, so many will be interested to see how much ground they give up should they fail to also open their poker room soon.
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