MGM Springfield poker room returns after a year and a half

The MGM Springfield casino’s poker room reopened its doors Friday at 11 a.m. after its complete shutdown due to the COVID pandemic. 

The room will keep upholding all safety protocols, while offering 13 tables where up to nine people can play. It will be open daily from 11 a.m. to 3 a.m.

“MGM Springfield is thrilled to reopen our Poker Room. We are looking forward to welcoming back our loyal players and dozens of employees who have waited for this day for more than a year and a half”, said Chris Kelley, MGM Springfield president and COO. 

The reopening was announced a month ago, as the casino started the process of removing slot machines from the room to resume its original activity, shortly after it reinstated its mask mandate. MGM Springfield declared its intentions to reintroduce the popular games to the Gaming Commission last August, as poker players demanded its return. In an effort to secure approval, the casino agreed that it could do so at a reduced capacity. The regulator had seen a tenfold increase in complaints, many of them over the lack of poker options in the state.

“We have listened to our poker players and also our previous dealers that want this back as an option at our casino, and we want to provide it to them,” MGM Springfield Compliance Director Daniel Miller said back then. 

Being the only other option for poker in the area, Encore Boston Harbor has yet to make a decision about the game returning to its operations, which is set to be announced by the end of this year. 

MGM Springfield reported $19.4 million in gross gaming revenue from slots and table games in September, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission reported.

That was down about 11% from the $21.8 million it reported a month earlier in August 2021, but up about 10.2% from the $17.6 million MGM Springfield reported a year earlier in September 2020 as the industry was just reopening from COVID shutdowns.

Revenue reported in September 2019 was $20.2 million, which was down about $700,000 from August 2019.