MGM Springfield adds more poker tables, because kids love ’em

Casino operator MGM Resorts has wowed Massachusetts officials with fresh details about the in-development MGM Springfield resort casino project.

The $960m MGM Springfield is on track to open in the southwestern region of the state in September 2018, and Thursday saw MGM officials provide further details of the project’s progress to members of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC).

For one thing, MGM Springfield president Michael Mathis says the property will have more than the 100 gaming tables listed in the original estimates. Mathis told the MGC members that data from MGM’s new National Harbor casino in Maryland showed that table games were “making a bit of a comeback in terms of the mix with slots.”

Mathis added that younger demographics are “skewing away from the traditional slot product and towards an interactive, communal table game experience.” As a result, the number of tables in MGM Springfield’s poker room is rising from 16 to 23.