By Josh Resnek
December proved to be Encore Boston Harbor’s best month since opening in June according to revenue information released by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission last week.
Encore took in $54 million in gambling revenues during December, up about $3 million from November.
Encore officials believe the spike in gambling revenues has come about because of paying close attention to what works at the his newest of Wynn Resorts facilities.
More gaming tables have been added and some slots removed to take advantage of higher interest in gaming tables among those coming to the casino.
Encore executives have noted that slot machine play has been unusually soft – and not just at the Encore casino but at other casino sites across the state.
Executives took comfort in the higher gambling take during what tends to be a slow part of the casino season.
MGM Springfield and the Plainridge slots facility in Plainville, both reported their lowest monthly gambling revenues to date.
In recent months, Encore’s earnings had been disappointing.
From the June opening, and including December’s take, Encore reported a total of $313 million in gambling revenues.
This is a far cry from a predicted $800 million first year take executives were predicting before the facility opened to great fanfare.
The fatter take figures have not materialized.
It is expected Encore will earn somewhere in the vicinity of $600 million during its first year of operation.
Executives at Encore have been experimenting with what works and doing away with what doesn’t.
Table game minimums have been lowered at Encore.
This is expected to attract more guests and gamblers to its gaming tables.
Figures for MGM Springfield and Plainridge are at their lowest point since 2018.
Slot revenues alone dropped by almost $4 million at Plainridge in December.
MGM Springfield’s take was weak, it’s weakest showing since opening in 2018, reporting $19 million in total revenue.
Encore also reported rightsizing its workforce by laying off about 70 employees last week.
Despite claiming the layoffs weren’t really layoffs, Encore has indicated the company needs to keep the workforce to a size that fits the needs of the facility.
To this end, it is believed, but not confirmed that total employment is down from a 5,800 person high to something closer to 5,300.