Foxwoods Resort Casino
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Foxwoods Resort Casino is a hotel-casino in Ledyard, Connecticut. Foxwoods is the largest casino in the world, as measured by floor space for gaming, with 340,000 ft² (31,587 m²) [1]. The entire resort comprises 4,700,000 ft² (440,000 m²) of space. The casino has over 380 gaming tables including blackjack, craps, roulette, and poker. There are over 7,400 slot machines, as well as a bingo room, keno, several restaurants, 1,416 hotel rooms and a two story arcade for children and teens. It is home to one of the BB King Nightclubs.
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[edit] History
Foxwoods was founded in 1986 as a bingo hall by the Mashantucket Pequot Nation of Native Americans. In 1992 the Pequots added table games, followed shortly by slot machines in 1993. The casino agreed to pay 25% of their slot revenue to the state of Connecticut, a sum that now amounts to almost $200 million each year [2].
[edit] Gaming
[edit] Blackjack
Blackjack at Foxwoods is played with 6 or 8-deck shoes. All tables are hand-shuffled since the removal of the continuous shuffling machines several years back. The dealer must hit on all totals of 16 or less, and stand on all totals of 17 or more. Foxwoods offers late surrender, double downs on any card and splits up to 4 hands. Specially marked tables offer side bets, including Super Sevens and Match The Dealer. Some players may be discouraged by the table minimums: On weekends, the minimum bet at blackjack tables is likely $25.
[edit] Craps
Foxwoods is one of a growing number of casinos offering 3-4-5 times odds. On points of 6 or 8, players are allowed to make an odds bet equal to 5 times their pass/don't pass bet. Points of 5 or 9 allow a 4 times odds bet, and points of 4 or 10 allow a 3 times odds bet. A side effect of this rule is if the player takes the maximum odds the odds payout is always 6 times the pass line bet.
Table minimums are usually $10 but can be as low as $5 during slower hours.
[edit] Roulette
Table minimums during the weekend are usually $10 or $25, though you can usually get on a $5 table early on Saturday mornings before 10 am.
Almost all of the wheels are of the American variety (with two green spots, 0 and 00), though there are a few European style wheels with only one zero.
Foxwoods does not allow the "en prison" rule (as played in Europe and Atlantic City, New Jersey), so if you are playing black (or red) and the green zero comes up, your bet is not held or halved, but lost.
[edit] Slots & Video Poker
Slot machines at Foxwoods pay out roughly 91% of the money that gamblers bet[3] [4]. In the fiscal year ending June 2003, Foxwoods' slots handled over $9.5 billion. 25% of slot revenue is given to the State of Connecticut. There are over 7,400 machines in five casinos devoted to slots and video poker.
[edit] Poker room
Foxwoods spreads several poker games including limit Texas hold 'em, no-limit Texas Hold 'Em, Omaha hold 'em (high/low), and seven-card stud. There are also weekly poker tournaments and World Poker Tour events. The poker room underwent an expansion in March of 2006, increasing the number of tables it boasts from 76 to 114, making it the largest poker room on the East Coast, and one of the largest in the world.[citation needed] It is the only legal poker room in New England, after rival Native American casino Mohegan Sun closed their poker room in 2003.
[edit] Summer 2008 Expansion
Construction that started in November 2005 to be completed in Summer 2008 will add:
- 2 million square feet
- 125 table games
- 1,500 slot machines
- 824 hotel rooms/suites
- 4,000 seat performing arts theater
- Four restaurants and four retail outlets
Source: Foxwoods
On April 25, 2006, Foxwoods announced that the expansion will hold the MGM Grand brand name, and will partner with parent company, MGM Mirage in the expansion project.
[edit] Employee Unrest
A December 29, 2006 AP article detailed how an anonymous group of employees were organizing a sick-out for the New Years Eve 2006 and New Years Day 2007 to protest, among other benefits, a $750 increase in health insurance deductibles. [1]
A February 21, 2007 Boston Herald article reported on various wage and benefit increases that were enacted after review and discussion between Foxwoods' administration, employees, and consultants. The article also confirmed that 200 of Foxwoods' 10,000 employees did participate in a sick-out during the New Years holiday. [2]
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- The Foxwoods Resort Casino Web site
- Foxwoods Classic Poker tournament results
- Foxwoods Casino Review
