1,000 per hour enter MGM Grand on first day

The casino management said it was meeting private goals and expected to maintain Thursday's number throughout the first weekend.

"It's the company's philosophy to underpromise and overdeliver," spokesman Bob Berg said of the publicly stated goal of 10,000 customers daily.

MGM Grand chairman Terry Lanni said that people may be surprised at how large the gambling market is in Michigan.

New Jersey's Atlantic City makes $3.5 billion in gross profits a year with 13 casinos.

Lanni expects the three casinos in Detroit and the one across the border in Windsor to pull in $1.5 billion to $2 billion a year.

Casino Windsor gets an average of 17,000 gamblers per day, with the highest numbers Friday and Saturday nights, spokesman Jim Mundy said.

While opening day was a success, some gamblers who parked illegally on Michigan Ave. directly beneath "no standing" signs were towed.

The city towed 40 cars Friday.

"No standing means you can't even stop there at all," Detroit policeman Steven Plieth told the Detroit Free Press. "That's stricter than no parking."

The illegal parkers received $30 parking tickets and had to pay for $75 storage at the police garage.

The city intends to enforce its parking laws to keep traffic flowing and provide access for emergency vehicles, said Greg Gaskin, commander of the police casino control division.

"MGM has free parking," he said. "It's not necessary to be parked illegally."

Edger Robinson, 78, of Detroit, lost $100 at the casino on Thursday, opening day, but was back Friday for another go. At 4:45 p.m., he'd been in line for an hour. "I'll probably be coming here and I'll go back to (Casino) Windsor (Ontario), too," he said.

Gerri Tenn, 50, of Warren, lost $400 on opening day and came back again Friday afternoon. She said she disliked having to exchange money in Canada and doesn't plan to go back to Windsor. "As long as things go smoothly, I'll come back here."

Mundy said business Thursday and Friday was normal. "I really didn't know what to expect, but if there's any surprise here, it's a pleasant one," he said. "We have not noticed any change."

archive