Twin River Casino Providence Rhode Island

Twin River Casino in Lincoln, Rhode Island, is a full casino with live table games, video slot machines, virtual table games, live entertainment and dining. Located in Downtown, this spa hotel is within a 15-minute walk of Rhode Island State Capitol Building and Providence Place Mall. Brown University and Providence College are also within 1 mi (2 km). Providence Station is 10 minutes by foot.

Twin River Casino Hotel, previously Lincoln Park, is a casino, hotel, and former race track in Lincoln, Rhode Island, owned and operated by Bally's Corporation. The facility has 162,000 square feet (15,100 m²) of gaming space, with 4,108 slot machines, 97 table games, and 23 poker tables.^[1] The hotel has 136 rooms. Other amenities include a 29,000-square-foot (2,700 m²) event center, 16 eateries, 7 bars, and a racebook.^[1]

History[edit]

Lincoln Downs opened on July 7, 1947.^[2] It was built by B. A. Dario, owner of the Pascoag Park Racetrack in Pascoag, Rhode Island, and accommodated 5,800 spectators in the grandstand, plus 2,000 more in the clubhouse and turf club.^[3]

In 1976, Dario closed the track early, stating that it had lost $400,000 in 28 days, due to the loss of customers to Connecticut's off-track betting and jai alai, and the state's refusal to allow the track to keep a larger share of the betting handle.^[4] Later that year, Dario sold his 82 percent controlling interest in the park to the Taunton Greyhound Association.^[5] The track was renamed as Lincoln Greyhound Park, and began its first season of greyhound racing in June 1977.^[6]

In April 1977, Dario claimed he had a deal to purchase Narragansett Park, but those claims proved unsubstantiated.^[7]

In December 1989, the owners, Alfred Ross and Joseph Linsey of Florida, agreed to sell Lincoln Greyhound Park, along with four other dog tracks in Colorado and South Dakota, for an estimated total of $80 million to United Track Racing, a joint venture between Wembley plc (the British parent company of Wembley Stadium) and United Tote (a Montana-based supplier of computerized wagering systems for racetracks).^[8][9] United Tote was charged with managing the tracks, due to Wembley's lack of experience in the American pari-mutuel market.^[10] Wembley bought out United Tote's 20 percent stake in the company in August 1992.^[10]

Rhode Island's 1991-92 budget authorized Lincoln and the state's other pari-mutuel facility, Newport Jai Alai, to offer off-track betting for 104 days a year. Simulcasting of horse races from other tracks began in July 1991.^[11]

In 1992, with pari-mutuel handles dropping due to competition from the newly opened Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut, Rhode Island authorized video lottery terminals with poker and blackjack games to be installed at Lincoln Park and Newport Jai Alai. Lincoln came online in September 1992 with 189 machines.^[12] By 1993, the number had increased to 900.^[13] That year, the property's name was shortened to Lincoln Park, to emphasize that it offered simulcasting and electronic gaming in addition to greyhound racing.^[14]

Transformation to Twin River[edit]

In 2003, Lincoln Park and two executives were indicted on federal charges related to an alleged scheme in 2000 and 2001 to pay up to $4 million to the law firm of Rhode Island House Speaker John Harwood to gain support for an expansion of the track's slot parlor, and to block a rival casino proposed by the Narragansett Indian Tribe.^[15] In the wake of the accusations, Governor Donald Carcieri demanded that the track be sold to new owners before negotiations could continue on the proposed expansion.^[16] A bidding war for Wembley ensued between MGM Mirage and BLB Investors (a partnership of the Waterford Group, Kerzner International, and Starwood Capital).^[17] BLB made the winning offer of $553 million in May 2004,^[17] but withdrew from the deal just two months later due to concerns about potential competition from the Narragansett casino.^[18] A new agreement was later reached for BLB to buy Wembley's five American race tracks, including Lincoln, for a total of $455 million, and the sale closed in July 2005.^[19]

BLB undertook a $220 million expansion which opened in March 2007 under a new name, Twin River Casino.^[20]

BLB filed for bankruptcy protection in 2009, and said it would have to end dog racing for the casino to survive.^[21] The company's reorganization was largely resolved by November 2010,^[22] with ownership transferred to its lenders, a group led by Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Sankaty Advisors,^[23] but the bankruptcy case remained open until September 2011.^[24]

In November 2012, voters statewide and in Lincoln approved a referendum allowing live table games at Twin River. A similar referendum for the Newport Grand was rejected by Newport voters. Table games began operating in June 2013.^[25]

In March 2015, Twin River agreed to purchase the Newport Grand.^[26]

The casino added a poker room in December 2015.^[27]

Construction began in May 2017 on a four-story hotel attached to the casino.^[28] The hotel opened in October 2018 with 136 rooms.^[29]

Twin River Casino Providence Rhode Island Rhode Island

Sports and mobile gambling[edit]

In November 2018, Twin River opened the first sportsbook in Rhode Island and began offering sports betting.^[30] In March 2019, the governor of Rhode Island signed a bill to allow mobile sports betting in the state, to begin on July 1.^[31] The bill allowed for the creation of an app to allow remote placing of sports bets at Twin River Casino. The state had legalized sports betting the year before, when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a federal law forbidding most sports gambling in the country.^[32]

References[edit]

1. ^ ^abForm 10-K: Annual Report (Report). Twin River Worldwide Holdings. April 1, 2019. p. 26 – via EDGAR.
2. ^'Boston Man first at Lincoln Downs'. New York Times. AP. July 8, 1947. – via ProQuest (subscription required)
3. ^Blunk, Frank M. (April 29, 1956). 'From jitney to millions: Rise of a turfman'. New York Times. – via ProQuest (subscription required)
4. ^'Lincoln Downs closing for rest of '76'. New York Times. AP. August 8, 1976. – via ProQuest (subscription required)
5. ^'Lincoln Downs 'goes to dogs''. New York Times. AP. December 17, 1976. – via ProQuest (subscription required)
6. ^'Lincoln Park begins June 23'. Washington Post. AP. June 11, 1977. – via ProQuest (subscription required)
7. ^https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1916&dat=19770407&id=BSZJAAAAIBAJ&sjid=WQYNAAAAIBAJ&pg=2608,1125020
8. ^O'Neill, Phil (January 24, 1990). 'British buying Lincoln track'. Worcester Telegram & Gazette. – via NewsBank (subscription required)
9. ^Sleeth, Peter (December 22, 1989). 'British firm buying 3 Colo. dog tracks'. Denver Post. – via NewsBank (subscription required)
10. ^ ^abHiday, Jeffrey L. (August 13, 1992). 'Wembley takes full control of race track'. Providence Journal. – via Factiva (subscription required)
11. ^Gray, Ed (July 30, 1991). 'Lincoln bettors enjoy horsing around'. Boston Herald. – via NewsBank (subscription required)
12. ^Gray, Ed (October 1, 1992). 'Video games for dog days'. Boston Herald. – via NewsBank (subscription required)
13. ^Aucoin, Don (April 18, 1993). 'R.I. video poker fans say game is costly but fun'. Boston Globe. – via Factiva (subscription required)
14. ^Eric Woolson (June 13, 1993). 'Track gets lift from video lottery'. The Courier. Waterloo, IA – via Newspapers.com. (Part 2 of article)
15. ^Osborne, Alistair (September 11, 2003). 'Wembley chief to face $4.5m bribery charge'. The Telegraph. Retrieved 2012-11-14.
16. ^Gregg, Katherine; Anderson, Liz (October 8, 2003). 'Rhode Island governor wants new owners for greyhound track'. Providence Journal. – via Factiva (subscription required)
17. ^ ^abMayerowitz, Scott (May 6, 2004). 'MGM Mirage drops bid for Lincoln Park, leaving one bidder'. Providence Journal. – via Factiva (subscription required)
18. ^Freyer, Felice (July 6, 2004). 'Bidder quits effort to buy firm that owns Lincoln Park'. Providence Journal. – via Factiva (subscription required)
19. ^Florin, Karen (July 20, 2005). 'Wolman, partners conclude deal for R.I.'s Lincoln Park'. The Day. New London, CT. – via NewsBank (subscription required)
20. ^Keister, Rebecca (March 24, 2007). 'Taking chance on Twin River'. The Sun Chronicle. Attleboro, MA. Retrieved 2012-11-08.
21. ^Friess, Steve (June 27, 2009). 'A casino's plan to open 24 hours a day draws ire'. New York Times. Retrieved 2012-11-08.
22. ^Grimaldi, Paul (November 10, 2010). 'Twin River wins license transfer'. Providence Journal. – via Factiva (subscription required)
23. ^Grimaldi, Paul (October 20, 2010). 'Bank group clears a hurdle'. Providence Journal. – via Factiva (subscription required)
24. ^Hallenbeck, Brian (October 1, 2011). 'Twin River bankruptcy case closes'. The Day. New London, CT. Retrieved 2012-11-13.
25. ^Paul Grimaldi (June 17, 2013). 'Twin River casino in R.I. expected to draw new crowd of gamblers now that it has table games'. Providence Journal. Retrieved 2019-04-02.
26. ^Grimaldi, Paul (March 4, 2015). 'Twin River makes deal to buy rival Newport Grand'. Providence Journal. Retrieved 2015-03-04.
27. ^'Twin River Casino introduces poker as competition ramps up'. Washington Times. AP. December 4, 2015. Retrieved 2019-04-02.
28. ^Bogdan, Jennifer (May 2, 2017). 'Construction starts on 135-room hotel at Twin River Casino'. Providence Journal. Retrieved 2017-05-02.
29. ^Nicole Dotzenrod (October 24, 2018). 'Twin River Hotel open for business'. The Valley Breeze. Lincoln, RI. Retrieved 2019-04-02.
30. ^Gouker, Dustin (November 21, 2018). 'Rhode Island Sports Betting Launches Monday At Twin River Casino'. Legal Sports Report. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
31. ^nbcboston.com
32. ^apnews.com

External links[edit]

Coordinates: 41°53′18.1″N71°26′55.4″W / 41.888361°N 71.448722°W

LINCOLN, R.I. – There’s only one guarantee for your next visit to Twin River casino: You’re going to leave smelling like Twin River casino.

Even after the coronavirus kept its doors closed to the public for 86 consecutive days, that distinct aroma — which kind of smells like a stew of Marlboro cigarettes, well liquor, and the cologne sample from GQ magazine — was still in the air when Twin River in Lincoln welcomed back a select group of its prized players Monday morning.

The look and smell of the casino may be familiar, but it’s hardly business as usual. From temperature checks at the door to social distancing restrictions that leave two or three slot machines between players, the casino is slowly adjusting to the new normal while still trying to entice customers after months with virtually zero revenue coming in — for Twin River, and the state.

This is what it was like to be at Twin River on day one of its reopening.

Not every Joe from Cranston, R.I., was allowed to visit the casinos in Lincoln and Tiverton on Monday. Twin River sent invitations to 4,000 players, and officials expect roughly 1,500 people to visit each day over the next two weeks. Craig Sculos, a vice president and general manager at Twin River, declined to say exactly how the 4,000 people were chosen, but he acknowledged that frequent use of their player rewards cards played a role in the invitations.

As visitors drove into the parking lot shortly before 10 a.m., they were stopped by security and asked to show their invitation. A woman in a Jeep with a Massachusetts license plate was told to leave because she wasn’t invited. Those with a golden ticket (or a reporter’s notebook) were instructed to park in one of three parking lots because the casino is now separated into sections called “north,” “south,” and “west.”

The longest lines were at the north casino, considered by many gamblers to be the main entrance, where about 50 people backed up into the Twin River hotel as they waited to get in.

At each entrance, every player and employee was required to stand in front of a thermal camera (which costs $10,000 to $15,000 each), to have their temperature taken, which is over in less than five seconds. The temperature pops up on a screen, and if you’re over 100.4 degrees, you’re not allowed to enter.

If you do find yourself running hot, Twin River is actually a convenient place to be: CVS Health has a coronavirus rapid testing station set up in the parking lot. (Note: At this point, if you have a temperature but test negative, you can’t just use a doctor’s note to get inside.)

From there, visitors are required to hand over their driver’s license so they can be checked into the casino’s contact tracing system. If a player tests positive for the virus, Twin River will send an e-mail to everyone who was in the casino that day to inform them of the infection.

“It’s no different than going to Whole Foods,” Sculos said, referring to the extra precautions that all businesses are taking in a world of the coronavirus.

Once you’re in, and wearing a mask (the casino will provide one if you don’t have it), you’re free to gamble like its 2019 all over again. Kind of.

There are no table games (no one wants to touch your sticky betting chips), poker games, or off-track betting allowed for the time being. Even sports betting, Rhode Island’s best advantage over the casinos in Connecticut, is out unless you have the Sports Book Rhode Island mobile app.

Before you ask whether there are even sports to bet on right now, you should Google “Russian table tennis.” In April, while the casinos were still closed, the sports book accepted just under $600,000 in wagers, and cleared $27,000 in revenue. More than 65 percent of the bets were for table tennis, and 32 percent were for soccer, according to Paul Grimaldi, a spokesman for the Rhode Island Lottery.

At the casino, the games include slot machines, video table games (you haven’t lived until you watch a Rhode Islander cuss out a scantily-clad digital blackjack dealer), and stadium games, which allow you to play blackjack, roulette, and mini baccarat with dozens of other players while the dealers stand behind tables set up several feet away.

With the exception of a handful of two-seater slot machines located throughout the casino, it’s nearly impossible to avoid social distancing. For every one machine that is running, the two or three next to it are turned off and the chairs have been removed.

And you know how casinos are famous for their eyes in the sky, the thousands of cameras placed in almost every section of their facilities? In addition to catching cheaters, they’re now being used to ensure that players are keeping a safe distance from one another, Sculos said.

“Our mantra is, play smart, stay apart,” Sculos said.

Providence Rhode Island Things To Do

If you don’t want to gamble, you probably won’t want to visit Twin River during its first few weeks of reopening. With the exception of the food courts, restaurants are closed. The hotel still isn’t welcoming visitors. And the Julio Iglesias concert that was scheduled for July 3 is already canceled, as are any other events scheduled for the near future.

The good news is that Twin River has never been cleaner. The casino will close at midnight every night for the time being, and undergo a thorough scrubbing. It even has an electric thermal fogger that is supposed to sanitize entire rooms in minutes.

And yet it still smells like Twin River.