MGM Launches GameSense At Empire City Casino To Assist Problem Gamblers

• Nearly 1 million guests of Empire City Casino have undergone interactions with GameSense since the 2017 launch.
• Employees of the casino are also being better prepared to help guests keep gambling as a hobby and overdo it.
• MGM Resorts paid $850 million to purchase Empire City Casino from the Rooney family in January of this year.

YONKERS, N.Y. – MGM Resorts is continuing their quest to attempt to remedy the world from problem gambling.

In their newest effort, the Empire City Casino in Yonkers, New York, MGM has launched its GameSense program.

GameSense is designed to interact with customers of the racino and educate bettors on making informed betting choices. It also dives into educating bettors on how certain games work and what the true odds of winning are.

With this addition, the employees of the venue also are trained further on how to deal with those who are need of assistance.

Since the touchscreen display launched two years ago with MGM, nearly 1,000,000 people have had personal interactions with the devices.

“It’s exciting to introduce MGM programs, such as GameSense, to our guests,” said the casino’s President and COO, Uri Clinton. “This program epitomizes the MGM culture – it’s innovative, forward-thinking and puts our guests first.”

The issue of problem gambling is taken very seriously across the country, especially since the PASPA ban on state-operated sportsbooks was lifted.

In Massachusetts alone, nearly 600 people have enrolled in GameSense programs to aid in their gambling addiction (since the launch of the program).

“We want people to know that we’re interested in providing this service,” said Mark Vander Linden, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission’s Director of Research and Responsible Gaming. “We want it to be seen as more than an administrative function, but so that in the process of signing up for it you feel supported or encouraged.”

The interactions between GameSense and bettors extends further than educational resources about the gameplay, as bettors can also sign up voluntarily for a self-exclusion program.

While it might seem like a program to limit players’ gambling time or money lost, other casino directors across the Northeast are in support of it.

“We’re pleased to have the GameSense advisers on the floor,” said Encore Boston Harbor SVP, Jacqui Krum. “We want our guests to come and enjoy our facilities. For those ones that need help, we want to make sure that they get the help.”

There are no rumors whether or not any of the upstate commercial casinos will implement the GameSense program as Empire City Casino has just done. Only a few weeks are left between the now and the beginning of legal New York sports betting, so the implementation of this program is better sooner than later.

News tags: Empire City Casino | Encore Boston Harbor | GameSense | Jacqui Krum | Mark Vander Linden | Massachusetts | Massachusetts Gaming Commission | MGM | New York | problem gambling | Uri Clinton