Oh what a difference a few weeks makes

So.

When I last touched my beat about a month ago, Foxwoods was still looking to build along the Delaware River in Philadelphia. The Casino of the Wind was a work in progress and the slot machine numbers were still off from last year.

Well, I guess EVERYTHING hasn't changed. And, despite me wondering if the crowds at both casinos weren't a little thin Sunday night and pondering their financial future in an economy that's turning around slower than these guys can whip a ferry into port, their scope overwhelmed a friend who is used to Midwestern tribal casinos. It led to an interesting discussion and more than a little playing of devil's advocate in regards to the nature and boundaries of tribal enterprises as well as the usual discussion of sovereignty and its intersection with federal agencies.

Yeah. Heavy stuff. So, we'll lighten the mood a little with this, the skies above Newport, R.I. and today's nomination for most interesting place to find casino advertising:

Where are you parked?

For the first time this summer, I had someone ask me where I was parked while walking to my car on the packed fifth floor of Mohegan Sun's Riverview Garage this evening so they could pull into my spot once I left.

Seems like a good sign, at least for a night when both Kansas and the Connecticut Sun were playing.

Casino roundup

Try as I might, I just can't write about everything, so here's a little bit of what's going on in the casino world today:

There's one fewer competitor against the Mohegan tribe to build a casino in Wyandotte County, Kan., but its not for fear of competition, Sands execs say, rather than partial concern of the viability of the market with pending changes in neighboring Missouri:

Here's what the Las Vegas Review-Journal has to say about it:

Las Vegas Sands Corp. on Wednesday scuttled plans for a $500 million casino complex near Kansas City, Kan., blaming the worsening credit markets and the potential that neighboring Missouri might soften its in-state gambling restrictions.

The company was competing for a single gaming license in Wyandotte County, Kan., and the move seemingly increased the prospects for Las Vegas-based Golden Gaming, which is seeking approval from the Kansas Lottery Commission to build a $662 million casino complex at a location in the Wyandotte County town of Edwardsville.

Mohegan Sun is leaving the fireworks to Mother Nature tonight

Turns out the forecast doesn't mix well with fireworks so tonight's regularly scheduled bang, boom, zoom fest has been postponed.

Mohegan Sun regrets to announce that the "Wild Wednesdays" festivities that were scheduled for tonight on the rooftop of the Riverview Garage have been canceled due to inclement weather. All scheduled events will now take place on Thursday, July 24th, starting at 5:00pm.

Now that's just plain silly

So, with another construction season about halfway done, hope of breaking ground on a casino — any casino, whether Foxwoods or Sugarhouse — in Philadelphia is once again dimmed by proposals by local and state politicians as well as opposition from neighborhood groups.

And it appears local pundits have gone off the deep end...

New Casino Solution: Move Them Underwater
July 15, 2008 – State officials yesterday offered a bold solution to the increasingly contentious casino-re-siting debate: submerge the planned SugarHouse and Foxwoods casinos beneath the Delaware River. "It seems to me that putting the casinos underwater would satisfy all parties," said Rep. Dwight Evans, speaking to reporters on Penn's Landing. "Foxwoods and SugarHouse would get to stay on the waterfront–and Philadelphia wouldn't have to look at them."

For those of you interested in Indian affiars

Turns out Canada also has a legacy of sending Indian children away from their home communities.

Check out the "Truth and Reconciliation" series from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation about First Nation children and residential schools. At best, it meant they were separated from their family and friends. At worst, it delivered them directly into harm's way.

Here's a in-depth look from at the Canadian situation, including apologies made as recently as June for the program that parted children and their parents up until the last school closed in 1996.

While I'm not sure if any of the children of Connecticut's tribes ended up in at the Carlisle school, both the Mashantucket Pequots and the Mohegans have a very generous education benefit for tribal members of any age who want to attend school.

Hey, I can expand, too

Not in the too-much-Johnny Rocket's or Junior's Cheesecake way but, if Connecticut's casinos can add on some real estate, so can I here at the casino blog.

In the next couple of weeks, I'll be adding information about books on our casinos and tribes, links on where you can find historical slot machine revenue for Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun as well as basic information about the casinos and photo galleries.

Oh, and if you've got requests for other stuff you'd like to see on the site, ship 'em along. I aim to please.

There's more to life than casinos

But, in my case, not much more than cars. Sort of. Anyhow, I've noticed this trend of corraling cars on dealer lots behind chain link fences during sales. I was driving to the Mashantucket Pequot museum earlier today for an assignment when I saw the latest wholesale roundup and imprisonment of vehicles. As if they might drive off on their own....

By the way, if you haven't gone to see the Race exhibit at the Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center, it is pretty interesting. Toward the end, there are several panels with information about the Carlisle School in Pennsylvania where American Indian children were sent to be "civilized," how some New Englanders formed fraternal organizations to keep the memory of the American Indians alive and how actual American Indians, including Mohegan Medicine Woman Gladys Tantaquidgeon, tried to keep their tribes alive during the last century.

Slotted out?

There's long been a question of just how much demand there is in the New England gambling market. When Foxwoods Resort Casino opened, there was nothing like it until Atlantic City, N.J., and it added slot machines by the hundreds through the years.

Mohegan Sun came along and now, almost 17 years later, the landscape is very, very different. There's a beefed up racino with 4,750 machines sitting at Twin River racino in Lincoln, R.I., and 5,300 machines at Empire City Casino in Yonkers, N.Y.

Of course, any casino expansion is going to add slot machines — they're the engines that will help pay for the construction. But, with almost 6,000 machines at Mohegan (and 800 more or so due next month) and another 8,100 at Foxwoods, it cannot come as a complete surprise that play is down in Connecticut. Credit analysts expect the market eventually will sop up the additional number of machines brought in by expansions, but the economy has allowed for that just yet.

An interesting market to watch will be northeast Pennsylvania, though. Mohegan Sun opened their $208 million Project Sunrise expansion just outside of Wilkes-Barre on Thursday and President Bobby Soper has long said the old facility's 1,200 slot machines could barely keep up with demand on weekends. Whether 2,600 slots will be too many or just enough in that area remains to be seen.

Parking space economics

Now, I'm no economist. I spent precious little time with math in college after overdosing on the subject in high school. But, considering what analysts are saying about the Mashantucket Pequots' financial situation and the shaky economy in general (money just doesn't stick around like it used to, you know?), here are some signs I see at the casinos of things being off from last year:

* I haven't waited for a stall in the women's room in months.
* There are just too many good parking spots near the elevator lobbies.
* Open Sic Bo tables in Asian gaming areas — these are usually hot spots of gamblers using their bus-tour vouchers before it is time to leave. I used to see players two and three deep tossing their bets over the heads of others.
* There were actually half-penny slot machines sitting vacant at Mohegan Sun.
* And, yes, it looks like even the lines for the buffets are off a little.

What have you noticed on recent trips to the casinos? Drop me a line below or at ejacobson@norwichbulletin.com

Don't go changing...

So everything changes, right? Entropy never wins in the long run.
The look of the paper changed this morning with some interesting results.
The crowds previously clogging the MGM Grand walkways were definitely missing yesterday afternoon as I stopped by to chat with folks playing the slots.
And, while a lot of gamblers don't have much to say when they are playing, I got an earful from Bob McGlothin. The Milford, Mass., guy made it into my story today about the slot revenue slide resuming and other financial news...but he also had a lot more to say.

Casinos: Slots slide hits hard

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Tali Greener/ NorwichBulletin.com

Marie Taylor of Braintree, Mass., plays a slot machine Tuesday at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods.

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By ERICA JACOBSON

Norwich Bulletin

Posted Jul 16, 2008 @ 02:00 AM

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ejacobson@norwichbulletin.com
(860) 425-4241

After a single-month reprieve in May, the slot machine revenue slide resumed last month at Connecticut’s casinos as gamblers kept a tight rein on slot spending in June, according to numbers released Tuesday.

Well, it turns out McGlothin is no big fan of the new points system at the casinos, either. He said he's a Sachem-level slots player member at Mohegan Sun and estimates it now takes about $90 of play to earn $1 in rewards, which equals all kinds of uncool in his world. His argument was that, combined with what he and others he has talked to perceive as tighter slots, his trips are less fruitful — a strategy he questioned as a casino customer who brings thousands, not hundreds, of dollars along on each trip.

What do you guys think of the new player programs? I would love to hear some feedback from the folks who use it most.

Also, here's a really interesting blog by an out-of-state poker player on the economics of getting to Connecticut's casinos these days. He actually breaks down different scenarios and what would make the most financial sense for him.

Yankee Trails will get me there and back, but I would not have a certain place to stay, so I guess if I want to make an overnight trip, I'll book some of the mailed promos (still at $69) and then try for the bus. Even though the bus would cost me $52, it is a good deal as I get coupons for both days, so I eat two $15 buffets and have $40 in free keno bets. All that for about what it would cost me in gas/tolls to drive there and back. But if I drove I could find a cheap $40 motel.

It IS the economy, stupid

Well. Call me senorita drool cup. Or a fortuneteller. Or the "math is hard" Barbie from the '80s. Or just juggling too many weeks out on my schedule, but the real news is Mohegan Sun slot revenues are down almost 9 percent this June compared to the same month in June 2007.

So, it appears the slide is back on at one of Connecticut's casinos. (A Foxwoods Resort Casino spokeswoman hopes to have their numbers out by about noon.)

What do you think about this news? Beginning of the end? Bottom of a bad economy? Drop a vote in my latest poll....

Breaking News

Mohegan Sun slot revenue down almost 9 percent in June

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By ERICA JACOBSON

Norwich Bulletin

Posted Jul 15, 2008 @ 10:42 AM

Last update Jul 15, 2008 @ 11:35 AM

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Mohegan, Conn. —

Slot revenue at Mohegan Sun dropped more than $6.7 million — almost 9 percent — from $74.5 million in June 2007 to $67.8 million last month, according to numbers released this morning by the casino.

Players pumped $804.7 million through the casino's almost 6,000 machines in June compared to $860.8 million played by visitors during June 2007. The state will get almost $17 million from Junes Mohegan Sun revenues compared to $18.6 million in June 2007.

Slot revenue numbers from Foxwoods Resort Casino have yet to be released.

So, a confession

I eat to live, not live to eat. This is not to say I can't appreciate an incredible meal whipped up by a friend or crank out a fairly fantastic pumpkin cheesecake or chocolate mousse myself, I just never caught on to that whole "foodie" craze of spending hours in the kitchen working on the perfect curry or spending a good portion of a paycheck on a meal.

But I'm always interested to hear what others think of the dining at Connecticut's casinos so I'll occasionally post some blogs I find about visitors' culinary experiences, good and bad.

Here's what one recent visitor thought of MGM Grand's Craftsteak:

I talked myself into ordering the $52 grass-fed Ohio ribeye; how often do I get to eat grass fed beef? Conferring briefly with the server, she recommended I go medium rare rather than my usual rare. “Grass-fed beef marbles differently than corn fed,” she explained. “You’ll want to let it cook longer to unlock the flavors.” After the appetizers, the beef arrived, with sizzling char lines on the outside, pre-cut into strips in its own serving pan. I forked one out, hands shaking with adrenaline, and took my first bite.

To read the rest, click here.

Your comments on the MGM Grand

So, from the comments posted here, it looks like folks are mixed at best about the MGM Grand at Foxwoods. The out-of-towners I've taken through the facility have remarked on a couple of things:

1. Small. "Is this it?" seemed like the most frequent question I've heard.
2. Tight. As in walkways. Pals noticed that more than three people abreast on the passageways around the gambling area or on the walkway from Foxwoods and you get a quick roadblock.
3. Bright. My roomie was amazed by the bright glare in the food court area. Compared to much of the rest of the facility where the light is dim and soft, he thought this was downright East German.
4. People watching: Nothing like hanging out for a few hours on a night when Larry the Cable Guy was doing a show at the theater.
5. Cheesecake: Man. It's thick, but the roomie really liked the spongecake crust versus the traditional graham cracker.

That said, looks like Mohegan's Casino on the Wind will be opening in late August. It brings windows onto the Thames River, the return of poker and a departure from the casino's traditional pods off of common walkways theme. Thoughts?

How do you think the expansions will make out in this economy? Do you think they will draw more people to Connecticut's casinos and grow the market? Or do you think they will split a shrinking group of gamblers? Take a vote in the poll....

Not a lot of faith....

Judging by the voting on this week's poll, the majority of folks don't think there's going to be a gathering around the bargaining table between Foxwoods and its dealers.

With the tribe and the casino looking for ways to cut costs, it would be interesting to know just how much this nearly year-long battle against the unions has cost the Mashantucket Pequots and Foxwoods....

In other news, I've been zooming around the region the past few weekends (hey, if gas is going to be gone sooner than later, better make these last trips good, right?) and, is it just me, or are there fewer casino billboards coming north on I-95 than, say, two years ago at this time?

Back then, on a drive from my lovely-lovely digs in the capital of Taxation Without Representation to visit friends in New London, I was bombarded by billboards for musical acts coming to Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods as soon as I was north of New York City. These days, not so much.

How about you? You notice any changes in how the casinos are doing business these days?

D.C. to dealers: Get thee to a bargaining table

Word is the news is spreading through Foxwoods that the roughly 2,600 dealers at the casino have had their election certified and it's time to bargain with their employer....

By ERICA JACOBSON

Norwich Bulletin

Posted Jul 03, 2008 @ 11:05 AM

Last update Jul 03, 2008 @ 12:25 PM

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Mashantucket, Conn. —

About 2,600 table games dealers at Foxwoods Resort Casino can go the bargaining table with their employer, according to a decision released today by the Washington, D.C., headquarters of the National Labor Relations Board.

The two-page decision concluded neither the dealers seeking to organize under the United Auto Workers or the board's regional director in Hartford did anything to warrant setting aside the Nov. 24 election where dealers voted 1,289-852 to form a union. It agreed with the prior rulings of administrative law judge Raymond Green that ballots did not need to be translated into Chinese for Asian workers as well as determined that there was no evidence to show UAW agents "engaged in objectionable list keeping on election day."

"From the agency's standpoint, this is the end of the case for us," Patricia Gilbert, a spokeswoman for board headquarters, said.

Lori Potter, a spokeswoman for the Mashantucket Pequots - Foxwoods' owners, said the tribe would issue a statement later today.

The Mashantuckets have contested the dealers' efforts to unionize for almost a year. They argue applying federal labor law to casino employees would usurp the tribe's sovereign status. After the election was held, the tribe then appealed the election saying, amongst other complaints, the ballots should have been in Chinese to accommodate non-English speaking dealers.

You don't need a weatherman....

Foxwoods announced it laid off almost 200 middle managers today, a move believed to be the first of its kind in the casino's 16-year history.

People sometimes ask me what I think about the future of Connecticut's casinos and all I can say is what I know about their present: They're teenagers, both figuratively and literally. They're fighting some strange battles — unions, economic unease and, today, layoffs — now that they're no longer the cute, new kids in the northeast.

And it will probably be some years before they settle into a regular rhythm, if they ever do.

With my sincerest apologies to Gabriel Garcia Marquez

As I sat in construction traffic leaving Mohegan Sun this morning, I wondered (I wonder a lot if you haven't gleaned that already) whether we'll even recognize the casinos five or 10 years from now.

It wasn't an unreasonable thought as blasting reduced more of the cliffs around the casino to rubble to expand access.

Long ago, during an time of my life I'd like to call the Vermontian era, I was brought to southeastern Connecticut for the weekend to attend a wedding. We ended up at Foxwoods after the reception — me, two drunken bridesmaids, their dates and someone who ostensibly was my date but about whom I was beginning to have my doubts. My earlier tipsyness (I was not driving that night, but that's a whole other story for another time) was wearing off just as my blindness from having had my contacts in for the last 16 hours was rising.

While they went and danced in some sort of nightclub in the round, I sat at a bar, soaking my voluntary cataracts in little shotglasses of water provided by a very, very comforting bartender. That part of the night had held little more than some random guy offering to buy me a drink and suggesting I ditch my date — not a fantastic idea since I had no idea where in the hell I was in Connecticut let alone New England — and me escorting the drunken maidens to the bathroom more times than I can count.

I left Foxwoods that night and Connecticut the next day. I didn't return to the state for five years, not even passing through on the way to somewhere else. I didn't set foot in Foxwoods again until I was hired to write about casinos for the Bulletin.

For the last year, on each trip there be it business or pleasure, I've looked for that nightclub, those bathrooms, that bar without much success. Wondering (yes, again) if it was still possible to catch a glimpse of that younger me wearing a dress I had searched for weeks to find but ultimately went unnoticed and sitting at a bar blind but with certain aspects of my life coming disastrously into focus.

About a month ago, my then-date, now roommate (yeah, talk about long stories for another time) and I went to Sunday dinner at Foxwoods. Turns out he hadn't been there in years, either. As we wandered around and I pointed out changes they had made to accommodate the MGM Grand, we cruised past Slots 360. "Hey," he said, "this was the nightclub we went to after my sister's wedding."

I stopped for a second, surveyed the room and thought, 'Man, how could I have NOT recognized this, even in its latest incarnation?'

And then I hoped folks playing the slots in there ultimately had more luck that night than I did all those years ago.

Have your say

So, what do you think of the new MGM Grand at Foxwoods? Does it feel like Connecticut's third casino or an expansion? Good place to hang or for special occasions only?

Post your comments below. We'd love to know.

Oh, it's morning all right

Once a week, most Bulletin reporters get the pleasure of working a shift that starts at 6 a.m. And, for the first two hours or so, it's just you, the fluorescent lights, the distant hum of a far-off ventilation system and the crackle of the police scanner.

Now, scanners are on all the time in newsrooms. When I worked for a paper in Burlington, Vt., a scanner call was how one editor learned that firetrucks were on their way to extinguish a blaze started by her daughter's desk lamp. At the Bulletin, we hear an assortment of calls throughout the day — police reporting in with their canine partners barking in the background, people stuck in elevators in one casino or the other and whatnot.

The calls are also an interesting peek into what's important to eastern Connecticut at the moment, how people are really living. A woman whose car broke down on Interstate 395 got a ride to her job at Lowe's in a cruiser. Police issued a lookout for an Illinois car driven by a woman who talked of Newport, R.I., bridges and taking her own life. And somewhere in Colchester, a stray cow had found its way onto the front lawn of a house along Old Colchester Road.

Sure newsrooms live and die by excitement, breaking stories and such, but quiet is nice, too, sometimes if only for the chance to sit and listen to the pulse of the people we cover.

10 days and counting

And counting. And counting. And counting.

Ten days in New York State is clearly measured differently than in eastern Connecticut because three developers, including a group with Mohegan Sun as a partner, seeking to bring slots to New York's Aqueduct racetrack have been waiting for 10 days since at least May.

Latest word this morning from spokesman for Capital Play, the group to which Mohegan Sun belongs, on a revised timeline for the state to make a choice? Before the Fourth of July.

And that is, by my count.....

10 days away.

What can $130,000 buy you these days?

1. Half an average one-family home in New London County.

2. A hand-built Mercedes Benz AMG S63

3. A break in sliding slot revenues....

By ERICA JACOBSON

Norwich Bulletin

Posted Jun 16, 2008 @ 11:37 AM

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Mohegan, Conn. —

Mohegan Sun broke eight months of sliding slot revenues in May by doing almost $130,000 more than the $75 million it made in May 2007.

The casino reported this morning it had taken in $75.1 million in slot revenues in May, up 0.001 percent from the same time last year.

Foxwoods Resort Casino, which opened its $700 million MGM Grand at Foxwoods expansion mid-May, had yet not released its numbers by 11:30 a.m.

Slot revenues had been in a free fall since September. In April, Mohegan Sun was off by 5 percent from the same month in 2007 and Foxwoods was off 11 from the same period.

When slot revenues slide, so do the contributions to the state's general fund. An agreement between the tribes and the state sends 25 percent of each month's slot revenues to Connecticut's coffers and Mohegan Sun will give just less than $18.8 million from the business it did in May.

Bumping back into sovereignty

For everyone who wrestled with understanding the nuances of sovereignty during the Foxwoods-UAW hearings earlier this year, the issue has a new face — 4-year-old Rain Thomas. The girl, daughter of Mashantucket Pequot Chairman Michael Thomas, is at the heart of custody battle between her tribal member father and a non-tribal mother.

Yet again, Connecticut's jurisdiction is blurry. Local courts defer to custody decisions already made by the tribal court. State police say they have jurisdiction to enforce arrest warrants on the reservation that Connecticut feels are valid. And the girl's mother, Vanessa Hyman, appears to be asking any court she can whether they can return her daughter.

In the navy, indeed.

I saw the Village People open for K.C. and the Sunshine Band on a date at a fair in Vermont. So, I can't help but smile just a little at this news....

http://www.mohegansun.com/entertainment/schedule-of-events.html?featureid=2292b15a

Well, I've just about heard everything now

Turns out Bob Dylan will grace the MGM Grand at Foxwoods theater stage Aug. 15. Yeah, Bob Dylan.

I'll admit, despite the best efforts of several people, I've never been a huge Dylan fan. But I've always understood his counter-culture, folky stance to be, well, in direct opposition of all things glamor, glitz and ritz. Turns out there are at least two other casino stops on his late summer, early fall tour.

Esteemed coworker and Dylanite Dustin Racioppi said he'd probably be in the audience, despite the somewhat intriguing venue.

“I don’t know what the hell is going on with old Bob," he said.

The times, indeed, they are a changin'.

Get those lighters handy

And those black T-shirts, too, because the casino concert season is upon us. Which tickets have you snapped up?

Also, take a look at the results for the poll about visiting the MGM Grand at Foxwoods (scroll down to under "Old Polls"). Looks like curiosity won't kill a bunch of cats in eastern Connecticut. It also made me wonder, are there any long-time/life-long residents who have NEVER been to the casinos? It'd be interesting to hear why....

Well, that was enlightening

Looks like a dead draw on why the United Auto Workers pulled their request to represent between 80 and 120 slot technicians at Foxwoods Resort Casino.

Meanwhile, it looks like it won't play in Peoria. There, the UAW is contesting a company-wide smoking ban by Caterpillar (one of THE major employers in town), saying it violates union contracts. The difference between that situation and the recent attempt to ban smoking at Connecticut's casinos (which the UAW was behind) is the source of the smoke. At Caterpillar, it is employees creating secondhand smoke for other employees. At the casinos, it is visitors creating a smoky environment in which employees have to work.

And for those who argue smoking bans won't cut into casino business, credit analysts Moody's and Standard and Poor's respectfully disagree. Both have used smoking bans as a criteria for assessing fiscal health and outlook — and not in the positive aspect.

Sigh. Listen up, people. Again....

Mashantucket, Conn. —

A 56-year-old Massachusetts man wanted for the armed and attempted abduction of a relative of a Massachusetts police officer was arrested by Connecticut State Police on Wednesday afternoon at Foxwoods Resort Casino.

You know, I've done several stories about how casinos are the worst place for anyone running from the law to hide...just sayin'.

To the reader who keeps sending me love notes from the Reagan era....

...thank you for poking around in the Reagan archives so the rest of us don't have to. It's interesting reading for those of us, like myself, who didn't grow up in eastern Connecticut, didn't grow up anywhere near the Mashantucket Pequots or their pre-recognition reservation.

I did, however, grow up across a river valley from Stateville, one of Illinois' esteemed penitentiaries. In the winter, when the leaves were off the trees, the glow from the institution's orange sodium lights could be seen through the picture window in the living room. As I grew up, I got used to passing anti-death penalty protesters rallying before executions as I drove to go the movies or the mall. Occasionally, someone visiting us would bristle at the closeness of the facility with its high walls frosted with silver curls of barbed wire. I'd just shrug. "They stay over there," I used to say, "and we stay over here." There was no secret, no hiding, no subterfuge. It was a prison and that was just that.

When I first started covering Connecticut's casinos and their tribal owners a year ago, I thought the situation must have been similar between Ledyard and the Mashantuckets. And, oh wow, was I wrong. If I had a buck (inflation's rough, you know), for every time someone pulled me aside and told me, off the record of course, how the tribe seemed to come out of nowhere, well, I'd at least be able to buy a tank of gas (about 17 gallons, thank you) for my daily ride.

It's been nearly 25 years since the Mashantuckets became a tribe and, in another 25 years, there will be fewer and fewer people who remember what Ledyard was like pre-Pequot. Do you? How about Mashantucket members before the federal government made them a tribe?

I'd love to hear your stories if you do. Sharing, you know, is caring....

Vote off the table for fourth union

"A request to organize slot technicians at Foxwoods Resort Casino was withdrawn Monday, just hours before attorneys for the United Auto Workers and the casino were to meet at the National Labor Relations Board in Hartford.
Neither the UAW or the Mashantucket Pequots, owners of Foxwoods, would comment on the move, but a board spokesman said the decision to pull a petition is not uncommon.
“It’s a rational thing for them to do,” John Cotter said. “If they don’t think they’re likely to win, they withdraw.”
He described the letter, a copy of which was not available Tuesday, as one sentence and filed just hours before a Monday afternoon hearing scheduled to determine whether the election request was valid."

With two failed union votes within a month, table game dealers nowhere near the negotiating table with Foxwoods administrators and a call to bargain languishing in Washington, it appears the union momentum has stalled.

That said, with a stalled economy and jobs being harder to find, maybe the bottom line is behind this decision for the 120 employees.

What do you think? Take a sec to cast a vote in the poll. Or, even better, leave a comment because, c'mon, you know you miss Story Chat....

Job insecurity?

The Las Vegas Review-Journal is reporting construction workers at MGM Mirage's CityCenter might walk off the job after a sixth worker was killed at the building site since work began in early 2007.

Perini, the same construction manager the Mashantucket Pequots used to build the MGM Grand at Foxwoods, is in charge of that project as well.

Wait. Where did all these PEOPLE come from?

It's about six months too early or six months too late, but I am thankful for my patient, yet inquisitive, friends who come to visit eastern Connecticut and humor me during quick romps through the casinos.

Still, I found myself a bid adrift Saturday as I walked into MGM Grand at Foxwoods with a friend and saw all these PEOPLE in there. Sounds ridiculous, right? Well, not exactly. After writing about the casino for months while it was habited by construction workers, it was a shock to the system to see nary a hardhat nor scaffold.

Instead, there were crowds of people squeezing through the walkways surrounding the gaming floor, lines in the bathrooms and a somewhat perplexing cadre of parking attendants directing traffic in the garage.

So, how about you? Have you been yet? Gonna go? Vote in the poll....

Groundbreaking for new Mohegan tower set for May 14

A groundbreaking will be held May 14 for the 919-room Earth hotel at Mohegan Sun, executives said during a conference call today. It is scheduled to open in 2010.

24 hour party people?

For anyone who remembers how Foxwoods Resort Casino had planned to close its doors after the first night but couldn't due to demand, it looks like Rhode Island's slot parlors have taken one step closer to Connecticut:

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — One of Rhode Island’s two slot parlors wasted no time taking advantage of a new state law that permits around-the-clock gambling on weekends and holidays.

State lawmakers Tuesday overturned Gov. Don Carcieri’s veto of the bill, which also allows Twins Rivers in Lincoln and the Newport Grand to stay open until 3 a.m. on weekdays.

Patti Doyle, a spokeswoman for Twin Rivers in Lincoln, told the Providence Journal that the facility planned to begin offering 24-hour gambling this weekend, and would soon announce “special promotions and services” beginning at 2 a.m. Saturday.

Newport Grand made no immediate announcement about around-the-clock operations, with a spokeswoman saying the parlor would first meet with city officials to address their concerns.

The House voted 51-16 to overturn Carcieri’s veto, while the measure passed 24-8 in the Senate.

During the debate, Democratic Rep. William San Bento Jr., the bill’s sponsor, said Rhode Island needs extra gambling revenue to help solve a $568 million budget deficit. Lawmakers have already passed a revised budget cutting social welfare spending, retirement benefits for state workers and funding for cities and towns.

“We have a huge budget deficit and this will help us,” San Bento said.

Carcieri vetoed the proposal Monday because he said residents in Newport and Lincoln deserve a say in whether they want more gambling. In November, Lincoln residents voted in a nonbinding referendum against longer gambling hours. Newport’s mayor has also objected.

Both communities will receive more revenue from the video slot machines as part of the deal.

The expanded hours expire in June 2009 unless lawmakers renew them.

"Flat is the new up"

That's what a casino consultant told me recently. Looks like he was at least half right:

Mohegan, Conn. —There was movement in the second quarter earnings numbers released today by the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority.

But not much.

Gaming revenues were $355.9 million for a three-month period ending March 31, down 0.3 percent from the same period in 2007. Hotel, retail and entertainment revenues grew but so did the cost of marketing and other promotions.

Net revenues for Mohegan Sun and Pocono Downs for the quarter were $392.6 million, up 0.7 percent from second quarter 2007.

Blue boxes

For all of the employment turmoil that has surrounded Foxwoods in the past year, there were stacks of blue boxes with plaques commemorating workers who had reached five and 10 years of service in a casino office Thursday.

At least you get to eat ice cream....

Turns out today is free cone day at Ben & Jerry's, which has locations in both of Connecticut's casinos. As someone who used to line up outside their shop in Burlington, Vt., for this rite of spring, it's the surest sign that summer is lurking somewhere in the next month or two. Stop in from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m.

As for me, newly tonsil-less and maxed out on ice cream, I might take a pass. Sigh.

Engineers can vote to form union at Foxwoods

Hartford, Conn. —

About 310 engineering employees at Foxwoods Resort Casino can vote on whether to organize under the International Union of Operating Engineers, according to a decision issued by the National Labor Relations Board this morning.

Peter Hoffman, the board's regional director, dismissed claims by the Mashantucket Pequot Gaming Enterprise regarding financial hardship for the Mashantucket Pequot tribe should a union strike as well as arguments the board does not have jurisdiction over the sovereign nation.

A list of employees eligible to vote is due to the board Tuesday.

Welcome to the flip side?

The Mashtanucket Pequots are offering buyouts of tribal government employees. Oh, and if the smoking ban at the casinos goes through, the head of the Mohegan tribe said there will be layoffs at Mohegan Sun when visitor numbers dip.

I wonder if there are any casino workers looking to snag one of those hundreds of jobs Electric Boat is creating?

Craigslist sex ads and the casinos

I'm not sure how it works in the other Connecticut, but here on our side of the state, the gals (and it is mostly gals) offering "erotic services" through Craigslist often mention one of two places: the casinos or Groton.

Doesn't take an Electric Boat engineer to figure out why — both areas have highly transient populations. And, with the idea of escape so heavily promoted by the casinos, why not step outside of the ordinary?

Now, I didn't grow up in eastern Connecticut so I don't remember the pre-casino days, but I'm going to venture a guess the world's oldest profession wasn't nearly as widespread in the past....

Commercial casino plan backing out of Bay State?

With Gov. Deval Patrick publicly admitting his casino proposal probably won't succeed, Connecticut is in the position to win and lose.

Already, recent months have seen a slowing in slot machine play. Casino execs say it's the price of gas, the downturn in the economy and increased competition from slot parlors in Yonkers and Rhode Island. Casinos in Massachusetts would bring thousands more no-arm bandits (mostly buttons these days, right?) into a market that could become supersaturated overnight.

But the Mohegans have already shopped a proposed casino in Palmer, Mass., and the Mashantucket Pequots have admitted to looking at various properties in the past. As the last annual report from the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority showed, having Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs just outside of Wilkes-Baree, Pa., really helped shore up a disastrous December here in Connecticut. Diversification isn't just a hope anymore, based on the tribes' plans, it is more of a necessity.

And the rocket's red glare.....

I think it goes without saying Roseanne Barr (or me with my unending creaky, croaky throat) need not apply....

UNCASVILLE, Conn. —The Connecticut Sun will hold auditions Monday for local singers who would like to perform the national anthem prior to home games at the Mohegan Sun Arena.

Auditions will be held at the Mohegan Sun Arena from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Candidates will be asked to sing the national anthem, a cappella, in 90 seconds or less before a panel of judges.

Candidates must provide a current resume as well as a recorded version of the national anthem on CD. All participants will be required to sign a release prior to auditioning. Any candidate younger than 18 is required to have the signature of a parent or legal guardian. Registration for auditions will begin at 5 p.m., and all candidates may enter the Mohegan Sun Arena at the box office entrance.

To pre-register or for more information, call 862.4000.

UAW vote can stand

Word has just come from Hartford that the November table game dealer vote at Foxwoods Resort Casino should stand and be certified, allowing about 2,600 dealers to organize under the United Auto Workers.

Watch this space....

You asked, I delivered

As a lot of you probably already know, the story comment section is back and I've been trying to keep up with what folks are saying and thinking about some of these casino issues.

Someone pointed out that the poll I posted yesterday didn't have a "let smoking continue" or "leave it alone" option. Well, it does now.

Go to it. And thanks for reading.

This just in from Hartford.....

Connecticut can legally extend the smoking ban to the state's two tribally owned casinos, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said this afternoon in an opinion.

In an eight-page opinion, he said the sovereignty of the Mashantucket Pequots, who own and operate Foxwoods Resort Casino, and the Mohegans, who own and operate Mohegan Sun, will not be affected since the tribes have already agreed in compacts with the state "to adopt public health standards at least as rigorours as the State's public health laws."

Blumenthal said the tribes' non-compliance with a smoking ban in all areas of the casino governed by Connecticut liquor licenses could lead the state to revoke the permits.

But, in his eight-page opinion, he urged all groups to discuss the issue, rather than rely on legislation.

"As a matter of comity and respect, we suggest that the Tribes and the State seek an agreement to implement the ban — thereby advancing the health interests of tribal and non-tribal patrons and employees of the casinos alike, without the need for enforcement litigation," Blumenthal wrote.

On the rack in the other, other Connecticut

Anyone who knows where to buy Forbes magazine in Norwich, do share.

The waiting room

The legislative office building in Hartford is a heck of a lot like an international airport.

My destination — Friday's hearing on a proposal to ban smoking in Connecticut's casinos was held — was shared by a couple dozen Foxwoods Resort Casino dealers clad in yellow United Auto Worker T-shirts, a handful of casino representatives and an ever-growing number of expert witnesses, at least one of whom had just jetted in from the Washington, D.C.-area. We waited in the main lobby, noshed on breakfast and then lunch in the cafeteria and wandered in and out of the hearing room, checking the agenda like one would check a departures screen.

But, like waiting at an airport, it was nearly impossible not to overhear the plans of others. Instead of talking about trips to Istanbul or Iceland, various witnesses reviewed pending testimony on such issues as election-day voter registration and who should have the right to commit someone suffering from mental illness.

I also managed to drop in, unknowingly, on a hearing discussing giving tax breaks to living organ donors to help offset the cost of them having to take time off of work to recuperate. It was a moment — although less life-changing than when a near-stranger offered her kidney to a co-worker's husband a few years ago — of what a friend and fellow writer likes to call synchronicity.

Call it fate, good fortune, a lucky break or just life (for all you sarcastic pessimists out there), but Danny Gasparino most likely won't need dialysis for another decade thanks to the spontaneous generosity of Marci Pignataro. If you missed their story in last week's Bulletin, here's where to find it:

www.norwichbulletin.com/homepage/x1638943317

And an update:

www.norwichbulletin.com/homepage/x1529764129

Going back to Hartford, to Hartford

The latest from the smoking-ban issue....

Connecticut's two tribal casinos will be smoke-free, one way or another, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal vowed this morning during a press conference introducing a bill that wants to ban smoking in casino areas where the state's liquor laws apply.

"This is historic in its scope, and you're going to make history at the casinos," he told a group of Foxwoods Resort Casino workers standing behind him clad in yellow United Auto Workers "Union Yes" T-shirts. "As sure as I am standing here, the casinos will be smoke-free."

The gathering opened a day of hearings by the Public Health Committee in Hartford. Last item on its list is Senate Bill 419, which calls for an end to smoking in all areas of Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun governed by Connecticut's liquor laws.

The UAW, which held a successful union vote amongst Foxwoods dealers in November but has yet to have the vote certified by the National Labor Relations Board, says the secondhand smoke situation in casinos is hazardous to workers as well as visitors. Both the Mashantucket Pequots, owners of Foxwoods, and the Mohegans say maintaining proper air quality in the casinos has draw the attention and spending of tribal government.

Connecticut's bars, restaurants and taverns have been smoke-free since at least 2004. Senate Bill 419 was described this morning by a Yale clinical law professor as a way to close the casinos' loophole.

"The state of Connecticut indisputibly has the right to regulate smoke in the casinos," Michael Wishnic said. "This one isn't close."

But a spokesman for the Mohegan Tribe disputed that assertion, saying that his tribe's sovereign government moved to make Mohegan Sun about 75-percent smoke-free in advance of the state's smoking bans. Chuck Bunnell said welcome Blumenthal's offer of discussion and possible agreement outside of litigation on the matter.

"The attorney general suggested that, through dialog, we could sit down and addres this issue," he said. "I know that that is something the Mohegan Tribal Council is open to."

A representative for the Mashantuckets was not immediately available for comment.

This afternoon's hearing will bring testimony from such witnesses as casino employees, tribal representatives, members of other smoking-ban advocate groups as well as a Maryland-based secondhand smoke consultant who says a recently completed analysis of air quality inside the casinos shows particulate levels several times greater than that of the state's outside air samples.

Casino impact study going ahead

"Casino impact study coming in early 2009
NEWINGTON — A New Jersey firm has signed a contract to study the effects on legalized gambling on Connecticut’s citizens, according to an announcement made Wednesday by the state’s Division of Special Revenue.
“This will be the first gaming study in 10 years,” Paul A. Young, the division’s executive director, said in a statement. “We are expecting a high quality product that will carry out the mandate of the statute.”
Spectrum Gaming Group, LLC, of Linwood will study the overall impact of gambling, the impact of Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun as well as the incidence of chronic gambling, he said, amongst other things. This study was given a $700,000 budget and will be complete in early 2009.
The last study was released in 1997 and was a snapshot of Connecticut’s casino culture in the days just after Mohegan Sun opened its doors."

After a hiatus of more than 10 years, Connecticut will add yet another casino impact study to the stack produced within the last year. What do you want analysts to look at when it comes to how Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun have impacted the area?

Random roundup

Here's some news from the region's casino scene:

* The town council in Palmer, Mass., has encouraged the Legislature in the commonwealth to act on Gov. Deval Patrick's bill to license three resort casinos in the commonwealth. Palmer, just north of the Connecticut border on Route 32 and along the Massachusetts Turnpike, is being considered by the Mohegans for a casino-resort development.

* Slots strike again at Mohegan Sun. A college student from Somerville, Mass., won $3.5 million Sunday at a Wheel of Fortune Megajackpot machine. She's the third gambler this month to hit the jackpot and the second to win a multi-million-dollar prize.

First day at Foxwoods?

Connecticut's first casino turns 16 on Friday, and, while there's no word whether Foxwoods Resort Casino is going to get that shiny red convertible as a present, I'd love to hear from people who witnessed the birth of casino gambling all those years ago.
Drop me a line at ejacobson@norwichbulletin.com, call 425-4241 or leave a comment here with your first day at Foxwoods story and the best way to contact you.

Cost comparisons

Some other interesting information from the first quarter operating results at Mohegan Sun:

Average cost of a meal during the first quarter of fiscal year 2008: $14.68
Same time, fiscal year 2007: $14.03

Average daily rate of a hotel room during the first quarter of fiscal year 2008: $115
Same time, fiscal year 2007: $127

Cost of Project Horizon expansion during the first quarter of fiscal year 2008: $925 million
Same time, fiscal year 2007: $740 million

Breaking news....

Mohegan Sun income down 23.2 percent in first quarter of 2008 fiscal year

Casino official calls results "disappointing"

First quarter operating income at Mohegan Sun was down $16.9 million, or 23.2 percent, from the same time in 2006, a situation casino president and chief officer Mitchell Etess called "disappointing."

"The quarter was especially impacted by the December slot promotional activity at our competitor, which had a devastating impact on the Connecticut and New England market," Etess, who is also the president and chief officer of the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority, said in a statement in the authority's first quarter fiscal year 2008 report. "Trends in January and early February indicate that normal levels of promotional activity have resumed."

Math is hard

Turns out the final countdown clock to the opening of the MGM Grand at Foxwoods is off by a day or two. Saverio Mancini, a spokesman for Foxwoods Resort Casino, said the real date - May 17, 2008 - flashes briefly at the beginning of the Web site presentation.

This just in...Part II: Electric Boogaloo

May 18 appears to be the opening date for the MGM Grand at Foxwoods site, based on a countdown clock running on the casino's Web site this morning. But no official announcement has been made by the Mashantucket Pequots.

The $700 million expansion will add a casino, 26-story hotel, 4,000-seat theater as well as dining and shopping to southeastern Connecticut.

Mohegan Sun, run by the Mohegan tribe, is also growing. It's $925 million Project Horizon expansion includes the Casino of the Wind, scheduled to open in the fall, as well as a second hotel tower, dining, shopping and entertainment facilities opening in stages through 2010.

(Bonus points to anyone who correctly guesses why this is the ONLY weekend in May I wished they weren't opening.)

The fog

Once every two weeks, we Bulletin reporters get the pleasure of working a 6 a.m. shift.

Call it bad short-term memory, but I'm always a little surprised by the number of folks on the road at 5:45. Local oil delivery trucks. Tradesmen's personal heavy-duty pickups with such bumper stickers as "My child got your honor student pregnant." Long-haul truckers jostling in and out of the left-hand lane to get around slower cars headed for the Route 2A Mohegan Sun exit ramp.

There's always at least one car headed to the flyover ramp with plates from semi-distant states. This morning, it was a sedan from Pennsylvania — a state usually no closer than a three-hour drive from this part of Connecticut. With a right swerve, it was gone, made fuzzy by the fog that fell on southeastern Connecticut like a thick, napping jungle cat accidentally rolling out of a tree on the African veldt.

(My apologies, Carl...but we will always have our hog butcher, our player with railroads.)

The dampening, darkening effect of the fog was stronger than I had ever seen before. My usual gauge - the glowing Mohegan Sun hotel tower - was completely obliterated without even a hint of light.

I've spent the last 10 months listening to local and regional economic experts wonder aloud about what our area would be like if Connecticut's two casinos had never been built or if they suddenly closed. I've seen the future - or maybe it was just a peek into a past many in this region remember - and it was dark.

Foxwoods' post season celebration with New England’s favorite football players

(courtesy of my official football translator, Dustin Racioppi)

MASHANTUCKET — Eyegloo and Point Magazine will celebrate with the New England Patriots’ Laurence Maroney, Reichard Seymour, Donte Stallworth and other almost undefeated stars beginning at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the atrium at Foxwoods Resort Casino. This will be the first indoor public appearance for these players since the Super Bowl in Arizona.
The players will arrive to give away team shirts, hats, footballs and jerseys.
Their appearance will be followed by a celebration of the Patriots undefeated regular season in the foyer area outside the Bingo Hall at 8 p.m.

Get on the bus?

This just in....

The Mashantucket Pequots "coercively and unlawfully interrogated employees" regarding testimony during recent hearings at the National Labor Relations Board offices in Hartford, according to a charge filed Friday by the United Auto Workers.

Hearings regarding tribal objections to the Nov. 24 organizing vote amongst dealers at Foxwoods Resort Casino ended Tuesday. In a statement released Friday, the union claimed workers learned they were going to Hartford when they picked up their daily schedules and rode casino buses to the hearings.

Arthur Henick, a spokesman for the tribe, read a statement contesting the charges.

"This seems like a desperate attempt by the UAW to try to detract attention from its own improper conduct that came to light at the hearing and from additional conduct by a UAW supporter that was reported privately to the regional director on Jan. 24," he said. "The additional improper UAW conduct is currently under investigation. We are confident that the allegations against Foxwoods have no merit whatsoever."

Henick would not elaborate at this time regarding the UAW conduct reported by the tribe.

You oughta be in commercials...

So maybe you didn't hit it big at the roulette wheel, but here's your chance to break into the exciting world of ...
commercial extras.

"Kevin Fennessy Casting seeks extras for a Mohegan Sun television commercial shooting February 5th, 6th, and 7th at the resort in Uncasville, CT. We need both Union and non-union performers to portray casino guests in upscale casual attire.
These will be overnight shoots. Those who wish to be considered must be at least 21 years of age and available all 3 nights.
SAG members will be paid at the scale/unlimited use rate. Only those union members who live within 70 miles of Uncasville (an area encompassing Providence, Hartford, and New Haven) will be considered.
Non-union performers will be paid a flat rate of $100/night."

(find more info here... www.kfcasting.com)

Anybody out there in southeastern Connecticut ever do anything like this? Would love to hear from you if you did....

Anonymous history

The room on the 21st floor of a Hartford office building is about the size of a neighborhood gas station mini-mart, trading the racks of potato chips and coolers of pop for meeting tables and a witness stand.

There are no windows. The acoustics are patchy beyond the first row of public seating and the wooden benches are butt-numbingly hard after a few hours. It is not, plainly, Philadelphia's Independence Hall or a stop on Boston's Freedom Trail.

It is, however, where the course of a federal agency's jurisdiction over tribal employees and the Mashantucket Pequot tribe's argument of an unfair union election will be hashed out yet again next week.

In the stacks

You know it is going to be a long day of hearings at the National Labor Relations Board when attorneys begin to disappear behind ever increasing stacks of evidential Foxwoods Resort Casino brochures and employee manuals and training materials.