My last visit to MGM Springfield was during their preview opening weekend after the COVID-19 closures in 2020. At the time I wasn’t all that impressed, finding much of the casino floor was closed because of the way things were laid out, and finding it nearly impossible to get on a machine, during a preview weekend at that.
I had decided to give them some time to continue to evolve as they settled back in, and then life happened, and then travel restrictions happened. In April, they took away all my offers, I guess because I hadn’t been visiting often enough, and for May/June they offered me my old offer, to be used once within a two month window.
I still wanted to check out how things had changed, so I did the trek earlier this month on a Friday night.
Massachusetts were still under some of the more strict rules during my visit – you still couldn’t walk around with a drink (and self-service stations were still closed), mask adherence was still mandatory in the state, and staffing still seemed a bit tight, given the continual recorded announcements that drink service could be slow, with apologies.
Yet you could definitely see some steps taken to make the place more accessible. A good percentage of the casino floor had been reset into carousels, opening up a lot more machines for play.
The poker room and center bar/lounge, both spaces that had been closed because of COVID, had been set up with slot machines to provide more machines for the machine players. The poker room in particular was airy and on the quiet side, which proved to be a fun place to play for me for a good portion of the night.
The video poker area had been ripped up yet again, with an apparent reduction in machines, to allow for a new sports bar/viewing area to be built in anticipation of sports betting coming to Massachusetts.
This is at least the second time they’ve done this, and although they took out some of the VP machines for construction, they put the remaining ones in carousels – from a post-COVID perspective (where machines were previously disabled for social distancing) I don’t think the net count is lower, but I could be wrong, especially since the bar tops were half on as well.
As far as that delayed drink service, I did see cocktail waitresses with some frequency throughout the evening. One had a massively full tray of drinks and was divvying out what she could, which was a nice approach given the challenges they’re facing (although probably tough as she begins to run out of things). Another had an empty tray and promised to come back with a water, never to be seen again.
This isn’t an MGM Springfield-specific problem – I have issues with drink service at casinos a bit too often for my tastes, and it’s certainly been more pronounced during the pandemic, although I have had my issues pre-pandemic too – but it did seem to justify the recordings, although I was able to get multiple waters during my visit.
The day I visited they had a Freeplay Friday promotion going, where you win free play if you earn 500 points. I won $40, which was able to be used in addition to the offer that brought me in, so that was nice. For the trip, I came out about even, but also earned some comp dollars and points that I’ll use on a future visit.
I didn’t play table games, but plexiglass was still up, as would be expected given the current restrictions active in Massachusetts, but there seemed to be some action happening. Like other places with limited spots per table, expect higher minimums for now so they can offset the number of players.
It was a nice return to MGM Springfield, a definite improvement from my visit last year, and I will be back before too long.
Thanks for the update!