Vegas-style gambling launches in Massachusetts
By Jacqueline Tempera
BOSTON (Reuters) - The first Las Vegas-style casino in Massachusetts opened its doors on Wednesday, part of a plan proponents say will add thousands of jobs and bring millions of dollars to the state.
The Plainridge Park Casino in Plainville, about 35 miles southwest of Boston, invited patrons to try their luck at a variety of slot machines and video card games.
Officials promise more than 1,200 machines and the only live harness-racing track in the state. The casino is to operate year-round, 24 hours a day, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission said in a statement.
The Plainville casino opened after years of lobbying by the gambling industry and in the face of opposition of activists seeking to repeal the 2011 law legalizing casino gambling.
The law also allows for casino resorts in three parts of the state. The western area includes Springfield, the eastern includes Boston, and the southeast incorporates the Cape Cod beaches.
The arrival of expanded gaming is expected to create thousands of jobs for Massachusetts residents while generating $300 million to $500 million in state revenue, according to the gaming commission.
Republican Governor Charlie Baker “welcomes the economic impact and hundreds of new jobs the Plainridge Park Casino is bringing to Plainville and the Commonwealth,” said his spokesman, Billy Pitman.
But residents across the state fear the arrival of gambling hubs will destroy the integrity of their neighborhoods.
MGM Resorts International is set to break ground on an $800 million casino complex in Springfield this summer that is slated to open in 2017.
Wynn Resorts Ltd claimed the Boston-area license for a $1.75 billion casino in Everett, a waterfront town.
A final license, for the Cape Cod area, is still up for grabs with many towns vying for it. The commission is expected to decide on the third casino by the end of the year.
Nearly 75 percent of voters in New Bedford, 60 miles south of Boston, on Tuesday approved locating a casino there, city officials said in a statement.
Among New England states, Connecticut has two large casinos owned by Indian tribes, Maine two small casinos, and Rhode Island two slot machine parlors.
New Hampshire state legislators last year rejected a bill to allow construction of a casino.
(Editing by Ian Simpson)
