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The Quinnipiac Chronicle

The Student News Site of Quinnipiac University

The Quinnipiac Chronicle

The Student News Site of Quinnipiac University

The Quinnipiac Chronicle

    Quinnipiac takes a gamble

    Quinnipiac students seem to always be complaining that there is nothing to do in Connecticut. However, two of the world’s largest and most extravagant casinos, Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, are a short drive up I-95.

    Whether you’re into Texas Hold ‘Em, slot machines, seeing live music, or even shopping, you can find it there.

    Foxwoods Casino, which is owned by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, is the largest casino in the world. It offers 340,000 square feet of gaming space alone. This is only a small portion of its 4.7 million square foot complex, however. About 40,000 people visit Foxwoods each day, and many stay in one of the 1,416 guest rooms offered at the resort. If you’re eager to spend your winnings, you can visit any of the shops located in the 20,000 square foot retail area shops with names like Gucci, Versace, Polo and Nautica.

    Mohegan Sun is no slouch either when it comes to retail space. It offers even more shops at its 130,000 square foot retail complex, aptly named The Shops at Mohegan Sun. It also offers over 300,000 square feet of gaming room with hundreds of table games and thousands of slot machines. It has a 34-story luxury hotel that features more than 1,200 rooms. Throw in a 55-story indoor waterfall, a 10,000 seat arena complete with its own WNBA team and a 20,000 foot world class spa, and you could have quite a weekend.

    Both Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun offer much more than gambling at their respective developments. Adding things like massive concert halls, luxury hotels, and even shopping malls makes going to the casino more about the overall experience and having a good time. Not surprisingly, it seems that most Quinnipiac students who go to these casinos go there with having fun on their minds, with gambling taking a back seat. Sophomore accounting major Stephanie Estra considers herself one of those students.

    “I go just for the fun and the atmosphere of it, but there are definitely people who go strictly to gamble. And I could go there to drink but I leave with a $100 bar tab, plus what I spend gambling,” Estra said.

    Estra explained that she usually goes to either Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun once a month, but sometimes goes twice. When asked how much she usually spends per trip, she replied, “Once I spent $1,000, but usually not more than $500. I definitely walk out with less than I go in with every time.”

    Senior media production major Bill Antonucci recently went to Mohegan Sun for his friend’s 21st birthday. He explained that the intention of the trip was to just have fun, but that fun did include several trips to the casino floor. “I had a real good time because I just got drunk and won like 400 bucks playing blackjack,” he said.

    Antonucci also added that he was impressed with the live music there. “There was a sick Led Zeppelin cover band playing so I just went and watched them for a while when I was tired of gambling.”

    Junior broadcast journalism major Pat Salvas also said he enjoyed the music at Mohegan Sun, but he didn’t have the same luck that Antonucci did. “I lost 70 bucks at the slots right away and I just quit,” Salvas said. “Then I was walking through the casino and heard the Bare Naked Ladies playing a live concert and just stopped in and watched the rest of their show.”

    Senior Mike Hacku was not able to gamble the last time he went to Mohegan, but still had a good time. “I went there last year to see a pre-season NBA game between the Cavaliers and Celtics. The arena was pretty big and every seat was pretty good,” he said. Hacku also experienced the mall within the casino itself. “There’s a ton of stores and the food courts are great. You can get anything.”

    It seems that most Quinnipiac students have a pretty good grip on what it takes to have a good time at the casinos. Have fun, take in everything, and quit while you’re ahead.

    More information is available at Mohegansun.com and Foxwoods.com.

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