State regulators on Thursday cleared the Encore Boston Harbor and MGM Springfield casinos to reintroduce roulette games for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered the state’s gambling industry in March.
The Massachusetts Gaming Commission decision comes nearly three months into the limited reopening of the casinos, which are trying to rebuild their businesses during a devastating year for the hospitality industry. The commission still has not cleared the facilities to allow tournament poker or craps.
The move comes as the casinos’ host communities of Everett and Springfield have become some of the state’s highest-risk areas for the coronavirus. That designation is shared by Boston and several other municipalities, some of which have scaled back their reopening plans and delayed in-person school.
The commission determined that it would be safe to add roulette to the casinos’ slate of games, which already include slots, blackjack, and smaller-scale poker games.
The