THE NEXT TIME patrons walk into a Massachusetts casino, they may have their temperature checked at the door and be handed a facemask. When a patron sits down at the blackjack table, the chairs next to them will be empty, and a plexiglass shield could separate them from the dealer. When Massachusetts casinos reopen – […]
Gambling
Posted inEconomy
Mass. should suspend lottery ticket sales
LAST MONTH, Massachusetts Lottery officials announced recent sales figures for lottery tickets. The numbers aren’t pretty. Sales from the week ended April 18 were down 33 percent compared to the first week of March. The recent drop-off is due primarily to the fallout from COVID-19. Some businesses that sell lottery tickets have closed temporarily. Tickets […]
Posted inEconomy
Virus notes: Budget roundtable tripped up by livestream failure
IT WAS AN inauspicious start to the effort to reckon with the devastating effects of the coronavirus pandemic on state revenue and the implications for the current fiscal year as well as the 2021 budget. A virtual economic roundtable scheduled by state budget writers for Tuesday morning was delayed by a week after the Legislature […]
Posted inOpinion
Tribe says US took its land out of trust
Following is a statement posted on the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe website on Friday. At 4:00 pm today — on the very day that the United States has reached a record 100,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and our Tribe is desperately struggling with responding to this devastating pandemic — the Bureau of Indian Affairs informed […]
Posted inGambling
Sports betting bill in play on Beacon Hill
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE Adults in Massachusetts would be able to bet on professional and Division I college sports in person and through web or mobile apps under legislation released Friday by a legislative panel that’s been studying sports betting for a year. The Massachusetts Gaming Commission would be given the discretion to write the […]
Posted inGambling
Nangle arrest casts shadow on casino buy-in
WHEN MASSACHUSETTS ROLLED the dice in in 2011 and decided to join the casino bandwagon, it was certain that stories would eventually surface of lives ruined by the lure of legalized gambling. But House Speaker Robert DeLeo, who pushed hard for passage of the state’s casino law, clearly never expected that a member of his leadership […]
Posted inThe Download
Nangle arrest casts shadow on casino buy-in
When the state rolled the dice in 2011 and decided to join the casino bandwagon, it was certain that stories would eventually surface of lives ruined by the lure of legalized gambling. But House Speaker Robert DeLeo, who pushed hard for passage of the state’s casino law, clearly never expected that a member of his […]
Posted inGambling
DeLeo calls Nangle allegations ‘serious and troubling’
HOUSE SPEAKER Robert DeLeo said Tuesday that the allegations against Rep. David Nangle, a member of his Democratic leadership team, are “serious and troubling and, if true, represent a significant betrayal of the public trust.” But DeLeo did not say what, if any, steps the House would take regarding Nangle. Nangle was arrested by federal […]
Posted inGambling
Wynn slammed by Macau shutdown
WYNN RESORTS CEO Matt Maddox said the coronavirus shutdown of all the casinos in Macau for at least two weeks is costing the gambling giant millions of dollars a day in lost revenue even as the company continues to burn through $2.4 million to $2.6 million a day in ongoing expenses for employees. Casino business […]
Posted inEconomy
Casinos continue sluggish performance
NOVEMBER FIGURES SHOW continued weakness in the Massachusetts casino industry, where fears of market saturation in the Northeast appear warranted and revenue projections for the state’s dive into the casino world look as though they were overly optimistic. Plainridge Park Casino in Plainville recorded its worst full month since opening in 2015, with $10.9 million […]