Author: jeff

Connecticut’s tribal casinos reported big gains in slot-machine revenue in December, contrasting with 2020’s numbers and restrictions. 

Mohegan Sun reported Monday that it kept $41.8 million in slots revenue after paying out prizes last month, a 29.5% increase in a year-over-year comparison. Foxwoods Resort Casino saw $30.5 million, up from $21.5 million a year ago a 42% rise. 

Mohegan Sun contributed $11.7 million of its December slots win to the state while Foxwoods sent $7.6 million to Hartford. 

As reported by the Department of Consumer Protection’s Gaming Division, being the second full month of online casino gaming in Connecticut, December generated more money for the state than November did. However, online sports betting revenue declined from month to month. 

Online gaming sites operated by the casinos paid the state $2.9 million in December, up from $2.5 million in November. Sports wagering offered by the casinos and by the Connecticut Lottery Corp. generated about $930,000 for the state in December, down from about $1.7 million the previous month. 

The casinos’ online sports betting sites collected more wagers than in previous months, but paid out a greater percentage in winnings: Foxwoods saw $68.9 million in sports wagers and paid out $63.8 million to patrons who placed winning bets. Mohegan Sun collected $63.3 million in wagers and paid out $59.4 million. The lottery took in $11.4 million in bets and paid out $10.5 million. The lottery’s retail sites saw $6.5 million in wagers and paid out $6.1.

After deductions for canceled bets, taxes and promotions, Foxwoods’ gross sports-betting revenue in December was $3.2 million. Mohegan Sun’s was $26 million and the lottery’s was $561,036. Each paid 13.75% of their gross revenue to the state. 

In terms of gross online gaming revenue, Foxwoods generated $9.2 million while Mohegan…

Continue reading

Syracuse, N.Y. – The Seneca Savings January JazzFest, a fixture of the Syracuse area midwinter music scene since 2011, celebrates its 10th year of live programming on Sunday, Jan. 30 from 1 to 9 p.m. at Mohegan Manor.

America’s music will resound from all four floors of the historic venue in Baldwinsville, spanning diverse styles including mainstream and bebop, traditional acoustic swing, the Great American Songbook, and Latin. Outstanding high school talent will be showcased, the next generation of emerging professionals will gather to jam, and this year’s special guest headliner, the Queens-born, Brooklyn-based Marianne Solivan, will perform in a festival setting for the first time since joining the Syracuse University music faculty as instructor of vocal jazz.

According to Jazz Times, Solivan is “a vital part of the Manhattan jazz scene…her sound hints at the sharp-focused intensity of Patricia Barber [and] the earthiness of Dinah Washington melded with the interpretive sass of Carmen McRae or, on occasion, even Betty Carter.”

She has performed and recorded with Christian McBride, Peter Bernstein, Jeremy Pelt, Gregory Hutchinson, Steve Wilson, Gene Bertoncini, and Lewis Nash, and many others, appearing at iconic jazz locations including Smoke, Smalls, Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, Birdland, and The Blue Note.

She will front a band of regional luminaries including Rick Montalbano, Tom Brigandi, Jimmy Johns, and Joe Carello for a 90-minute show at the event.

“This year’s event is the most intergenerational we’ve ever put together,” said Larry Luttinger, CNY Jazz founder and curator of the organization’s annual fundraiser. “We’re providing a platform for performers from boomer to Gen Z and everything in between.  Our best talent of today and tomorrow will be on display.”

Proceeds from the festival will support the scholastic activities of the CNY Jazz “Educational Pipeline” of scholastic programs including the SummerJazz Workshop and CNY Jazz Youth Orchestra, as…

Continue reading

Bill Reid  |  For The Bulletin

Monday evening brings the Wolf Moon, the first full moon of the new year with peak illumination at 6:51 p.m. Look for it to rise from the northeastern horizon around sunset.

In New England, and all the way west to Lake Superior, we use the traditional names given by the Algonquin peoples for the full moons. Why is January the Wolf Moon? According to legend, January is when wolves are most likely to be heard howling. Long ago it was thought wolves howled in January because of hunger, but we now understand wolf howling is done for several reasons – to identity and claim territory, locate mates and pack members, organize hunting and strengthen the pack’s social bond.

Today, there are no wolves left in our region to howl at the full moon, as they have been long extirpated from this part of the country as an apex predator. But perhaps we should consider changing the name of the January full moon to the Eastern Coyote Moon, the canid species that has supplanted the wolf. My guess is all readers of this column have heard the howl of the eastern coyote (as well as their other varied vocalizations). That sound, on a cold winter night, can send a shiver up your spine, just as the sound of a wolf howl may have once done for the inhabitants of this region prior to the mid-18th century.

The region’s connection to the wolf dates to its earliest human inhabitants. The Mohegan people of the region call themselves the wolf people. The first sentences of the Mohegan mission statement say “We are the Wolf People, children of Mundo, a part of the Tree of Life. Our ancestors form our roots, our living Tribe is the trunk, our…

Continue reading