No wait for MotorCity gamblers

But they cite one problem: Faulty slots

December 16, 1999

BY TINA LAM FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

The gamblers who packed MotorCity Casino on its first full day were surprised to find there was no line to get inside.

"We got right in, no waiting," said Sylvester Wilson of Detroit, who with his wife Yvette was touring the casino Wednesday.

Tuesday evening, the casino set up a heated tent, had a live band and handed out bottles of water to the crowd of several hundred that gathered to await its opening. But none of that was necessary Wednesday.

"Everything went very smoothly," said David Belding, executive vice president of Mandalay Resort Group, the Las Vegas company that owns just over half of the casino. "The crowds are greater than we expected and business is very strong, very strong," he said.

Casino officials did not release attendance figures.

Customers complained about glitches with some slot machines, saying some were out of service, didn't pay properly or didn't accept their bills. On Wednesday, "out of service" cards sat on many machines.

Belding said some machines did malfunction and the problems should be fixed soon . "No matter how much training people have, these are mechanical devices, and it takes time to get all the bugs out," he said. Many machines are not new but reconditioned.

Catherine Ashley-Foster, a supervisor at the Laurel Manor banquet facility in Livonia, noticed machines were down, but said such problems are to be expected in a new casino. "I think it's gorgeous," she said.

Gerald Thompson, a retired bar owner from Ann Arbor, went to MGM Grand on its opening day last July, and he said some dealers couldn't count correctly. On Wednesday, he spent four hours playing blackjack and pronounced MotorCity a winner. He said automatic shuffling machines kept the game moving, without having to stop and change decks, and the dealers seemed good.

"This is my new favorite," Thompson said.

Chuck Linder is visiting his sister in metro Detroit from Alabama, where he often gambles at casinos in Mississippi. He was impressed with MotorCity Wednesday.

But Willie Miller of Detroit wasn't so happy. She said she found a lot of machines that didn't work and was confused by the casino's layout, with gambling on four floors and restaurants in a separate building. "I don't like this one," she said.

A few blocks away, MGM Grand looked quieter than it has on recent weekdays, with banks of empty slot machines. A spokesman said business Wednesday was about the same as a week ago. Across the river, Casino Windsor spokesman Jim Mundy said December is always slow until Christmas, so it's hard to tell what effect MotorCity's opening had there. "It's too early to say," he said.

TINA LAM can be reached at 313-223-4407 and by e-mail at lam@freepress.com.