Look out Atlantic City, HERE COMES THE SUN

PLAINS TWP. – Bobby Soper expects to hear some “oohs” and “aahs” when the doors open and patrons first get a glimpse of the new Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs casino.

He also will be listening for clangs and jingles coming from 2,500 slot machines -- nearly twice the number in the current gambling hall -- as well as ringing cash registers in more than a dozen restaurants and shops.

All those sounds will be music to the ears of the casino-racetrack’s chief executive, who has guided development since the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority of Connecticut purchased the 400-acre complex in January 2005. Twenty months ago the Downs was the first Pennsylvania casino to open, and now it will be the first to make the transition from temporary to permanent facilities.

Soper promises “some special surprises” when ceremonies begin at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, with the doors opening by 10 a.m.

Aside from more slots and space – at 300,000 square feet the new building is triple the size of the existing temporary casino adapted from the racetrack grandstand – patrons will find new eating, drinking and shopping options designed to make a visit to the Downs a diversified entertainment experience. Soper expects to see an average of 10,000 visitors per day compared to the present 6,000, as the complex lures gamblers from farther away while enticing local customers to put off visits to established gambling meccas.

“I’m not ashamed to compare this facility with anything in Atlantic City,” Soper said last week while looking over the interior finish work, which includes design features that reflect local and Mohegan tribal themes.

“The overriding objective is to celebrate Wyoming Valley and Northeastern Pennsylvania,” said lead architect and Dallas Township native Brian Davis, while making a connection to “and a little bit of enlightenment” of the Mohegan Tribe’s history and heritage.

The non-gambling offerings will include both high-end and modest dining and three bars, two of them with live evening entertainment. The retail choices will be more limited, consisting of men’s and women’s clothing stores, a jewelry shop and the casino’s own store, where gamblers can cash in Player’s Club points for merchandise.

Even though most of them are tenants and not casino-owned, all restaurants and shops will honor club points on a one-for-one basis, said marketing vice president Jim Wise. He expects the new casino to be an immediate success.

“We’re going to see tons of people who’ve never been here before,” Wise said.

Vera Cash won’t be a new face but she’ll be there; the retired 84-year-old Avoca woman comes by every day to play the slot machines in the temporary casino.

“If it wasn’t for that I wouldn’t have anything to do,” she said last week while waiting in the lobby for her son, who is 69.

Still, “I can’t wait for it to open,” she said eagerly last week. A former restaurant manager, she’s looking forward to expanding her routine to include leisurely lunches in one of the 10 new eating places.

The lack of non-gambling amenities in the temporary space, which has only two small bars and a self-service restaurant, has limited the Downs’ appeal, Soper acknowledged.

Joe Weinert, senior vice president of Spectrum Gaming Group, a consultant to the industry, agreed: “Playing a slot machine is not the novel experience it was to most people,” he said. “You have to give them more.”

Even so, “they’ve built a product that clearly has resonated with the public,” Weinert said. Proof of that is in the daily “hold” per machine that has consistently averaged above $400, second-best among Pennsylvania’s seven operating casinos and frequently higher than the tribe’s flagship Mohegan Sun resort in Connecticut.

That much larger casino is located on tribal land and therefore is exempt from taxation, while Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs pays 55 percent of its slot winnings to the state. Even so, the economics for expansion are compelling; the 1,200 slot machines in the temporary casino have won an average of more than $13 million each month.

While Soper knows the win per machine will decline, overall gambling revenue should jump.

“We’ve had issues with parking capacity, slot machine capacity,” in the temporary casino, he said.

The local casino also was hurt when Mount Airy Casino Resort opened in October. The Poconos attraction owned by Dunmore businessman Louis DeNaples holds about 2,500 slots, restaurants and hotel accommodations. Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs will now leapfrog Mount Airy as a planned expansion there is on hold while DeNaples fights perjury charges related to his testimony during the licensing process.

The gambling industry has been broadening its appeal for several years, to the point that even in Las Vegas, sales in restaurants and hotels now exceed the take from gamblers. Unlike slots revenue, Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs’ profit on food, beverages and rent payments is taxed at normal business rates.

Before it opens, the new casino must pass a real-world test in which the slot machines are used at capacity. As he did for the temporary casino, Soper chose to give the proceeds – the casino’s usual winnings that average about 9 percent of wagers – to the United Way of Wyoming Valley.

Doug Harbach, a spokesman for the state Gaming Control Board, said normally there would be two test nights during which regulators verify the casino’s performance. But because the Downs already has been in operation, “this really only required one.”

The expansion will not mean an end to slots in the temporary space. Wise said about 350 machines will be left on the ground level, including all of the electronic table games. The old and new sections are connected by a fully enclosed walking bridge.

Soper insists that live harness racing is still an integral part of the complex. State regulations require at least $5 million of investment in racing facilities, and he said the Mohegans have gone beyond that.

“We spent some significant dollars to incorporate the two facilities,” Soper said. “We have plans to market to racing customers and vice versa. The more people we can attract the more we can expose them to our racing product.”

mohegan sun at pocono downs TIMELINE

coming monday:

Oct. 2004: The Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority and Penn National Gaming Inc. announce a $280 million sale agreement for the 40-year-old harness racing track and five off-track betting parlors.

Sept. 2005: Work begins on a temporary casino that includes a buffet restaurant and a new racing simulcast area. The grandstand roof is removed and a 16,000-square-foot addition is begun.

Aug. 2006: MTGA announces that a deal for a $30 million refund from Penn National and a pledge by local officials to support requests for up to $15 million in infrastructure grants will allow them to proceed with the casino project.

Sept. 2006: Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs receives approval for the first gaming license issued by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.

Nov. 2006: The temporary casino opens to the public with 1,100 slot machines, two bars and a buffet dining area. The final price tag, including renovation of the horse racing facilities and computer systems and other infrastructure that also will serve the permanent casino, is $70 million.

July 17, 2008: Scheduled opening date for the permanent casino. Cost has swelled by about 25 percent to $208 million from original estimates.