12 charged in lottery deception scheme

AG alleges winners paid front men to hide winnings

By Colin A. Young criminal justice 0 Comments Oct 26, 2021

STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A DOZEN PEOPLE and three stores were indicted Friday by a statewide grand jury in connection to what Attorney General Maura Healey’s office called “an ongoing scheme to rob the state of tax revenue by laundering lottery winnings and lying under oath on numerous lottery claim forms.” The 12 defendants include(...)

Baker commits to bridge linking Assembly Sq. and Encore casino

Source of $35m for project over Mystic River still not clear

By Bruce Mohl Casinos, Transportation 0 Comments Oct 22, 2021

THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION committed on Friday to build a bicycle and pedestrian bridge crossing the Mystic River and connecting Assembly Station on the Orange Line in Somerville to the grounds of the Encore Boston Harbor casino in Everett. The new bridge will connect the two municipalities and link a number of regional bike paths. It(...)

With thoroughbreds missing, money piling up in race horse fund

Commission shifting more funds to standardbred racing at Plainridge

By Colin A. Young Casinos, horse racing 0 Comments Oct 5, 2021

STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A RECENT AUDIT of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission found no deficiencies, but Auditor Suzanne Bump said the agency could do a better job of collaborating with the Legislature and other organizations to address the horse racing industry here, including the use of casino revenues to support racing. The 2011 law that(...)

Bally’s in R.I. taking aim at Mass.

Some Bay State lawmakers eager to fire back

By Bruce Mohl Casinos 0 Comments Sep 16, 2021

CASINO WARS in New England are officially starting to heat up. The newly renamed Bally’s Twin River officially broke ground Thursday on a major expansion of its casino in Lincoln, Rhode Island, spurring nervous lawmakers in Massachusetts to push for legislation that would allow the slots parlor in Plainridge to expand its offerings to remain(...)

Lawmakers push for expansion of Plainridge

Says table games, more slots needed to compete against Twin River

By Colin A. Young Casinos 0 Comments Sep 14, 2021

STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE HAVING ALREADY advanced House and Senate versions of sports betting legislation, the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies dedicated much of its Tuesday hearing to two other longstanding proposals to further expand casino-style gambling in Massachusetts. The two ideas — allowing table games at the state’s lone slots parlor(...)

Keep your eye on Twin River Casino in RI

Big changes coming, which could impact Mass.

By Paul DeBole Casinos 0 Comments Sep 7, 2021

WHEN YOU THINK of casinos in New England, what comes to mind are Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, which continue to dominate the region and account for between 42 percent and 45 percent of the total amount of cash fed into slot machines by casino patrons. Encore Boston Harbor, a relative newcomer to the New England gaming(...)

Rep. Hill appointed to Gaming Commission

Leaving Legislature after 22 years in office

By Bruce Mohl Casinos, Massachusetts Legislature 0 Comments Aug 20, 2021

REP. BRAD HILL, a Republican from Ipswich, is leaving the Legislature after nearly 22 years to become a member of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission. Hill is a joint appointment of Gov. Charlie Baker, Attorney General Maura Healey, and Treasurer Deborah Goldberg. He is replacing Bruce Stebbins, who left the Gaming Commission to join the Cannabis(...)

Mass. casinos returning to pre-pandemic revenue levels

Encore, MGM set records; Plainridge tops in slots

By Paul DeBole Casinos 0 Comments Aug 16, 2021

THE STATE’S THREE gaming facilities reported strong revenues in July, with the numbers at Encore and MGM Springfield returning to pre-pandemic levels and the Plainridge Park slots facility trending in the same direction. The best way to compare slot revenues is on a per machine, per day basis. Slot revenues, in general, can fluctuate wildly(...)

Mass. casinos may need Legislature’s help

Recent slots numbers indicate

By Paul DeBole Casinos 0 Comments Jun 23, 2021

I GET IT! Massachusetts is slowly beginning to emerge from the cocoon of the COVID-related shutdown of a significant portion of the Commonwealth’s economy. The effects of that shutdown have been felt across all ranges of business activity, especially our nascent gaming industry. I have read, with some amusement, the news stories touting the post-pandemic bounce(...)

Casino revenues continue to make gains

Largest tax haul for the state since Feb. 2020

By Colin A. Young Casinos 0 Comments May 17, 2021

STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE AFTER POSTING THEIR best month since before the COVID-19 pandemic in March, the casinos and slots parlor in Massachusetts reported similarly positive revenue figures for the month of April, generating the largest monthly state tax haul since February 2020. The slots parlor at Plainridge Park Casino, MGM Springfield, and Encore Boston(...)