The US$2.6-billion Encore Boston Harbor (pictured), near Boston, Massachusetts, the latest venue from casino operator Wynn Resorts Ltd, opened on Sunday.
According to photographs carried on the website of the Boston Globe newspaper, the guests included Elaine Wynn, former wife of the firm’s founder Steve Wynn, who exited the company last year amid allegations of sexual misconduct. Also at Sunday’s launch was Allan Zeman, chairman of Macau casino operator Wynn Macau Ltd.
As mentioned in multiple media reports, the new Encore Boston Harbor resort has 3,100 slot machines, 231 table games and VIP gaming rooms.
United States-based Wynn Resorts is the parent firm of Wynn Macau Ltd, the operator of two casino properties in Macau. The parent group also aspires to a Japan casino licence.
Matt Maddox, chief executive of Wynn Resorts, was quoted by the Associated Press as saying – shortly before Encore Boston Harbor opened – that the new resort would be the group’s “calling card to other cities and destinations around the world.”
He added the Massachusetts venue could be a template for the company’s future and possibly for the casino industry as a whole.
“This isn’t a local casino. This isn’t regional gambling. This is the first time a major city has a five-star, large-scale, integrated resort,” Mr Maddox was cited as saying.
