New Poker Room Opens in New York
New Yorkers have a new option if they want to play live casino poker.
Resorts World Catskills, located in Monticello, N.Y. — just a couple of hours north of New York City — opened in early February but had yet to get its poker room up and running. That changed with the room's official opening at 10 a.m. Monday morning.
Poker players now have access to a new 5,000-square-foot poker room featuring 19 tables and amenities like USB charging ports at every seat and a host of big-screen TVs. The room plans to offer hold'em, Omaha, and even stud games. Promotions will include a bad beat jackpot starting with quad fives beaten.
"We are committed to providing our guests with the region's most extensive, exciting, luxury experiences, and our new poker room is best in its class and a perfect example of this commitment," said casino President and CEO Ryan Eller in a press release. "We are confident that this poker room, paired with our property's vast array of other offerings and amenities, will solidify Resorts World Catskills as the region's premier casino resort destination."
Plans for the room to host poker tournaments should be unveiled "later this year."
The New York Casino Market
Resorts World Catskills and its new poker room is entering a crowded casino market in New York. Its the fourth Vegas-style commercial casino to open in the state, with a fifth expected to open this month. Those join dozens of tribal casinos and "racinos" already established.
Unfortunately for operators — and New York tax collectors — 2017 proved to be quite a disappointment. The new commercial casinos fell $230 million short of their revenue projections, according to USA Today. That was nearly 40 percent short of the figure floated during the license-garnering process.
Financial giant Standard & Poor's does not expect much better performance in the immediate future, USA Today reported.
However, state officials maintained the casinos have boosted the local economies and the tax coffers of local governments. As Resorts World Catskills is now the biggest of the bunch in the area, it will likely have a key role to play in the New York market going forward.
