Slot Revenue vs. Popularity

Most of my readers know that I am from New England and frequent both Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun casinos in Connecticut. I just read an interesting article in the Boston Herald stating that the Mohegan Sun brings in more slot revenue than Foxwoods even though they have half the number of slot machines. The Mohegan Sun has 3,600 machines compared to the 7,400 at Foxwoods.

The article goes on to the site several reasons why the Mohegan Sun's slot revenue is higher. They conclude that the Mohegan Sun is closer for New York gamblers, closer to the highway and that they bring in the games the players want to play.

Anyone reading this article and taking it at face value will probably conclude that the Mohegan Sun is more popular than Foxwoods. However before you make this assumption you have to ask yourself one question, "Is the extra revenue due to popularity or are the Mohegan Sun's slot machines tighter than those at Foxwoods?"

I have visited both casinos on a busy weekend know that they seem to be equally crowded. I have no exact figures to back up my opinion but when I hear that one casino is making more money than the other with half the number of slot machines, the first thing that comes to my mind is the payback of the machines is less at the casino that is making the most money.