POKER ROOMS

ON A RECENT WEEKDAY AND A WEEKEND DAY, WE VISITED BOTH THE MOHEGAN SUN AND FOXWOODS RESORT CASINO. THE PURPOSE OF OUR VISIT WAS TO SEE WHAT WAS GOING ON IN BOTH CASINOS AND HOW BUSY THEY WERE.

FOXWOODS POKER ROOM IS A CONVERTED SLOT AREA IN THE DOWNSTAIRS OF THE PEQUOT CASINO (OLD PART). IT HAS A TOTAL OF 96 POKER TABLES. THE TABLE IS COVERED IN A GREEN CLOTH. THE SEATS ARE BLACK AND BROWN LIKE YOU WOULD FIND IN A MEETING ROOM. THE RUG IS A RED PATTERN, KIND OF OLD AND LOOKING IN NEED OF REPLACEMENT. THE WALLS ARE PAINTED A GREENISH BLUE. IT IS A LARGE AREA AND LOOKS IMPRESSIVE. THEY HAVE A MACHINE THAT YOU CAN PUT IN YOUR INITIALS SO THAT YOU CAN PICK THE TABLE AND GAME YOU WANT TO PLAY. YOU ARE THEN CALLED WHEN IT IS YOUR TURN. THEY ALSO HAVE A MACHINE THAT CAN SWIPE YOUR POINTS CARD AND PLACE YOUR NAME ON WAITING LIST ALSO TO PLAY POKER. THE DEALER CHECKS YOU IN BY SWIPING YOUR CARD SO THAT CUSTOMERS PLAY IS DONE AUTOMATICALLY. THE 96 TABLES IN THE POKER AREA EACH CAN HOLD TEN PLAYERS AND ONE DEALER.

THE MOHEGAN SUN IS MUCH MORE CLASSY AND NEWER BECAUSE IT IS IN THE NEW CASINO OF THE WIND. THE POKER ROOM HAS A REPORTED 42 TABLES, EACH WITH TEN PLAYERS AND ONE DEALER. THE TOPS OF THE TABLES ARE BLUE AND THE CHAIRS ARE A GOLD COLOR. THE COLORS ON THE WALL ARE AN ORANGE TO MATCH THE REST OF THE CASINO. THE RUG IS MOHEGAN SYMBOL STYLE IN DARK BLUE. THE AREA LOOKS TIGHT AND SMALL. YOU HAVE TO CHECK IN AT A RECEPTION DESK AND PUT YOUR NAMES IN. THEY THEN CALL THE PLAYERS WHEN IT IS THEIR TURNS. THE COMPS ARE BEING FIGURED BY HAND AND NOT AUTOMATED LIKE AT FOXWOODS.

ON THE WEEKEND AT FOXWOODS, THEY WERE USING 90 OF THE 96 TABLES WERE BEING USED. THERE WAS ALSO ABOUT 10 TABLES ON THE FIRST FLOOR THAT WERE BEING USED. THAT MAKES A TOTAL OF ABOUT A THOUSAND (1,000) PEOPLE. AT THE MOHEGAN SUN, WE WERE USING ALL BUT ABOUT 6 TABLES, IN OTHER WORDS ABOUT 36 TABLES, FOR A TOTAL OF 360 PLAYERS. THERE WAS LONG WAITING TIMES TO PLAY POKER. UNFORTUNATELY MANY PLAYERS WHEN CALLED, WERE GONE.

ON THE WEEKDAY AT FOXWOODS, THEY WERE USING ABOUT 60 TABLES. THE MOHEGAN SUN WE WERE USING ABOUT 16 TABLES.

WHEN I ASKED A MOHEGAN TRIBAL OFFICIAL ABOUT THIS HE SAID, THAT IT WAS A GOOD THING, PEOPLE HAVING TO WAIT, MEANING THAT TO WAIT MADE IT MORE DESIRABLE..

I THINK , IF WE HAVE A BIG DEMAND FOR POKER AT MOHEGAN SUN ON THE WEEKENDS, THAT MTGA SHOULD CONVERT THE HIGH LIMITS SLOT MACHINE AREA (WHERE ORIGINAL POKER ROOM WAS) BACK TO A POKER ROOM. HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE WAITING AND BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT GETTING TO PLAY FAST ENOUGH, ARE LEAVING AND GOING ELSEWHERE?

WE THINK THE POKER ROOM IS A VERY GOOD THING. I BELIEVE THAT MAYBE THE MOHEGAN SUN SHOULD PUT IN ANOTHER AREA IN THE EARTH CASINO TO PROVIDE FOR SMOKING POKER PLAYERS. THE MOHEGAN SUN SHOULD GET THE AUTOMATED PLAY COUNTING MACHINES GOING AND THE AUTOMATIC SEATING MACHINES WORKING. WE SHOULD STILL HAVE THE FRONT DESK FOR PLAYERS WHO WANT MORE PERSONAL SERVICE.

NOW YOU HAVE MY OBSERVATIONS, ABOUT THE MOHEGAN SUN"S AND FOXWOODS RESORT CASINO"S POKER ROOMS.