The next generation in Pennsylvania gaming opened last month in Wilkes-Barre when the Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs debuted its permanent facility. The $209 million facility includes retail, branded restaurants and the latest, state-of-the-art slots.

The racino is the Mohegan tribe’s first commercial venture outside of its tribal casino resort in Connecticut and was the first gaming facility to open in Pennsylvania with its smaller facility in the racetrack. And it’s no coincidence that there are similarities between the two facilities.

Bruce “Two Dogs” Boszum, the chairman of the Mohegan tribe, says efforts were made to incorporate the natural geography, the culture and the history of the surrounding Pocono mountains into the design of the facility, similar to the Mohegan Sun casino resort in Connecticut.

Mitchell Etess, the president and CEO of the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority, said he’s proud of what they’ve built for the market.

“There’s nothing like it anywhere in Pennsylvania,” he says. “We wanted to give our customers something they could not find anywhere else in this market, and we think we’ve succeeded.”

The Mohegan Sun’s principal competition has been the Mount Airy Hotel Casino, less than one hour away, which opened in October last year and immediately took market share from Mohegan Sun. President and CEO Bobby Soper expects to regain those customers and more.

Another place Mohegan’s Pocono customers can go is Atlantic City, which offers the full casino experience. Pennsylvania casinos are still limited to only slots.

“We’re pretty confident that tables will eventually be approved,” Soper said. “We’ve got plans about how we’ll implement table games, but of course we defer to the views and opinions of the commonwealth’s regulators and legislators.”

By Casino Connection Staff

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